Our Purpose
by KingofBlacks
Summary: Everyone in the world has their own purpose. It's up to us to find it, because whether it be something good or bad, it is what defines our true selves. This is the story of a group of teenagers trying find theirs.
1. Ch 1 Welcome to Beacon

Our Purpose

Hello, potential readers, now Black Mamba is here bringing his debut fanfic after much long years as a reader. Now, granted this is my first time and English ain't really my first language, a reminder to you Grammar Nazis out there, so it might not satisfy you people, but what do I care (ok maybe I do) because in the end I'm doing this to satisfy my boredom. So, without further ado, lets start this chapter off with a Bang, just kidding, I'm talking about a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: Everything related to RWBY here belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, rest his soul. The OCs, however are mine, so screw off unless you want to borrow them with MY PERMISSION.

Chapter 1: Welcome to Beacon

3rd Person POV

(Location: Airship to Beacon)

'Sigh'.

That was the thought of the boy as he looked at the view in front of him.

He was a boy of about 1.85 metres tall **(A/N: Yes people I use Metres and all that stuff. So any of you who uses the feet thingy, its about 6'1, but I'm not going into specifics for future descriptions here)** , with quite a muscular build judging from the muscles bulging from his coat. He was wearing a black trench coat and a grey shirt underneath it, as well as a black pants and a pair of combat boots. There's also a metallic object stashed at his back, possibly his weapon. This thuggish appearance is perfected with his fingerless gloves and a bandana tied to his arm. His wild, unruly hair was quite different as it has a black and white pattern similar to a skunk, though one might wonder if it was natural or not. His red eyes gave him an intimidating factor as it pierces through the soul as he stares on someone, complete with his scowling face. **(AN: FYI people, I suck at fucking descriptions. God I can barely tell the difference between a vest and a shirt, so just play along.)**

"Hey, Nero. Snap out of it," a voice called out breaking him out of his thought.

"Huh, what?" the boy named Nero replied.

"You weren't listening to anything I said, did you?" The person next to him, a girl asked with annoyance in her tone.

The girl was shorter than him, about 1.7 metres, but exudes a mature aura around her. She has golden blonde hair with two braids which are connected at one point and rested on her shoulder with a head dress and stormy gray eyes. She wears a white vest with golden linings and grey sleeves which showed her curves alongside a white tights reaching to below her knee, as well as white heels. On her wrists are two golden bracelets with a tattoo of nettles on her right wrist.

"Sorry Aurea, I was distracted by uhhhh...the view," Nero apologized, making up an excuse.

"Hmmmmmmm...are you talking bout the view outside or the girls?" teased the girl named Aurea.

Nero just groaned. He knew this topic will come up sooner or later.

"Aurea, you know I'm not looking for a girl right now," he said in a exasperated tone.

Aurea just flashed a teasing smile, knowing that Nero is embarrassed about this thing.

"Well, as your sister, I think it is my duty to find yourself a girlfriend," she said while pointing a thumb to her chest, "seeing as you are as social as a rock."

Nero just sighed at this. He knew he lacked social skills, making it hard to make friends, let alone get a girlfriend.

"Okay Aurea. First of all, your not technically my sister. We're just like VERY close childhood friends who I treat like family. Second, my social skills are not THAT bad. I've made friends when I was at Atlas, excluding you who I've known for like my whole life. And three, I'm joining Beacon to be a Huntsmen, not find a girl. Besides, you should care for yourself Aurea."

Aurea merely scoffed at his rambling.

"Pffftt, details Nero," she replied," besides I'm doing this as orders from Aunt Gwen."

"Oh come on, don't bring Mom into this."

"Oh hell yeah I will, Nero," chided Aurea, placing her hands on her hips, "you know she's doing this for your own good. And besides, the girls here are very pretty. I mean, ummmm just look at those two."

She pointed her fingers on a direction, and Nero turned to satisfy her.

He saw two girls talking animatedly. The blonde one with long hair, has lilac eyes and a wide smile on her face. She was about as tall as Aurea, he observed, but what interests him was the way she dresses. She was wearing a brown vest buttoned with yellow crop top exposing her midriffs, and her top doesn't seem to cover her...well-endowed chest and hugged her curves tightly. On top of that she wears a biker shorts with a some sort of skirt around her waist. All in all, she was a bombshell with perfect packages. And her yellow bracelets seems to fit well with her.

The other girl, who was trying to remove herself from the blonde, was quite short, possibly less than 1.6 metres. She wears some sort of Gothic lolita dress with a black and red theme, and a belt with a metallic rose. Her red hood seems to make her stand out. And her hair is unique with a black color and red tinges at the end (but who is he to comment, he has a skunk hair for gods sake).But what really got him was her eyes. A silver colour which feels so deep as he stares into it endlessly.

He was staring intently at her until he realised that she saw him as she blushed furiously. He turned his face away in embarrassment, with his cheeks flushing.

'God, what the hell am I doing?' He thought, 'staring at a stranger. Though she does look cute NO! I'm not here to stare at cute girls with pretty eyes. I'm here to study and be a Huntsmen.'

"Hmmmm, what's this," Aurea said, once again breaking him out of his thought, "Got a crush already?".

"W-w-what?! No, I d-don't have a c-crush on anyone!" he stammered in embarrassment, cheeks flaming.

"Oh that's cute. You're already stuttering like that. Guess my work's already cut out," Aurea said with a teasing smile. She just loved doing this to her little brother figure.

"I don't like anyone Aurea. I mean sure she's cute and all, but that doesn't mean anything," he retorted, before realising his mistake and blushed at what he said.

Aurea saw this, unfortunately. "So you think she's cute eh?" She is on a roll with her teasing now. Nero just blushed red like a tomato.

Their conversation was interrupted by the TV reporter, Cyril Ian.

"The Dust robbery last night was perpetrated by the heinous criminal, Roman Torchwick," reported the man. As he said it, the screen showed pictures of Roman Torchwick, a man with orange hair and black eyes, wearing a white coat.

"Seriously, this guy needs a life if he's robbing Dust around," Nero snorted with disgust at the mention of the infamous criminal.

The reporter continued, "If anyone has information, please contact the Vale Police Department. Now, back to you Lisa."

After that, the screen switches to a woman, another reporter obviously.

"Thank you Cyril," she said, "Now in other news, a peaceful Faunus Rights protest turned violent when members of the White Fang attacked. This once peaceful organisation has since..."

Before they can listened to more, the screen switched again, now showing the projection of a woman. She was wearing a white pleated top along with a black pencil skirt from her waist. Her blonde hair is a shade lighter than Aurea's, and her green eyes as she gives out a stern look which was enhanced even more with her glasses.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon," the woman greeted, "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

As she said that the students in the airship looked out to see the beautiful view of Beacon Academy itself. Nero whistled with an impressed look.

"Wow, I never expected something like this," he said.

"True," replied Aurea as she too marveled at the view with awe. "Atlas got nothing on this."

"Yeah, this place feels more... homey," Nero said with a solemn look.

Aurea put a hand on his shoulder as she said, "This is our new home, Nero. Gotta get used to it."

"Hey, I didn't say that I didn't like it. It's just... I don't know. Will I find what I want if I do this?" Nero questioned.

Aurea tried to reassure him. "Nero, I'm sure you will. You said so yourself, you don't want to be the heir, so you tried to be a Huntsman. You came to Beacon to find something and you will. Just be patient."

"I know, Aurea. I know."

Aurea clasp her hands together and smiled. She knew Nero came to Beacon to escape his duties as heir of the Carbone Corporation. Carbone Corporation was one of the top Dust mining companies in Remnant, only second to the Schnee Corporation. And as the heir of the company, he is expected to lead the company in the future. Now, while he loved his family dearly, he doesn't want to lead the company and insists on giving it to his twin sister, Noir Carbone. This is one of the reasons he joined Beacon.

As they were talking about other topics, they were interrupted by a cry of, "Gross, gross, gross, gross!"

They turned to see the two girls who they were talking about earlier fussing around something like a vomit puddle. The two who saw this just laughed as the airship landed.

(Location: Beacon Academy courtyard)

Nero and Aurea were walking around, enjoying the sight of Beacon Academy. The architecture was truly something.

"So, what time is the orientation thing again?" Asked Nero, who was looking bored.

"Uhhhh, around 12, if I'm not mistaken," replied Aurea.

"What?! It's like 10 now. God, why drop us this damn early?" Nero sighed, frustrated.

"I don't know, so we can prepare ourselves for something?" Aurea said in an uncertain tone, not know the reasons herself.

Nero just groaned. He wasn't really the patient kind of person, so having to wait for an hour doing nothing is just torture to him.

"Man, this sucks. I hope something interesting happens."

Somehow, some deity up above answered his prayers as they heard an explosion nearby. Aurea just gave him a look and they both turned to the source of the explosion. There, they saw two girls in a smoking dust, both of them familiar. One of them being the cute girl (in Nero's mind) before and the other one...

"What the hell is she doing here?!" Growled Nero, anger apparent in his face.

"Weiss?" Said Aurea, though her tone is more of surprise than anger.

The girl was all around cold, with her pale complexion, ice blue eyes, white hair pulled up into an awkward ponytail and her scowl. She was about as tall as the girl in front of her, but that is probably due to her heels. She was wearing a white bolero jacket with a snow pattern at the back, symbolising the Schnee, and a similar colored dress reaching to the thighs. And she doesn't look happy at all.

"God, someone loves messing with me, huh?" He groaned, getting more frustrated. After all, his sworn enemy is apparently attending Beacon.

"Nero, ugh, seriously, you're doing that now?" Asked Aurea. She knew about this rivalry between Nero and Weiss, and tried to settle it down with little to no success as both sides were as stubborn as a mule with the pride of a king.

"What, it's not my fault that she apparently followed me here to make my life hell."

As he was complaining about his misery, something bumped into him. As he turned around, lo and behold, it was the Schnee heiress herself.

"Hey, watch where you're going, you dolt. Wait, NERO?!" Cried the heiress in surprise, before giving off a scowl.

"Sup, Schnee. The hell you're doing here, huh?" Nero sneered in an angry tone.

"Well, if you must know, I have been accepted to Beacon," she answered in a haughty tone, "Now my question is what are YOU doing here?" She pointed at him.

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, I'm very qualified to go here, seeing as I'm the top in class at Atlas, and as far as I remember, you never got into combat training Schnee, so how the HELL did you get here, princess? Did your dad pay them off?" He retorted, his anger increasing even more.

"How dare you!" She was livid at his words. "I'll have you know that I got here with my own effort and not because of my influence. And for the last time, stop calling me princess!"

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop acting like one, princess!"

"Ugh, I can't believe a ruffian like you is the heir to a famous company like the Carbone."

"Well I CAN believe that someone like you is related to the Schnee."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it means, Schnee."

The rivalry between those two was so intense, one can observe lightning sparks from their eyes as they stared into each other. Aurea, who was standing by the sidelines, finally got sick of this and took matters to her hands.

"Enough, you two!" Aurea shouted, finally losing patience.

The two immediately stop their bickering and stared at Aurea. She was rubbing the bridge of her nose.

She sighed and said, "Okay first of all, could you guys just stop with all this? I'm sick of listening to this shit and I think everyone else at home agrees. Second, this is the goddamn public, you two. You're attracting crowds here for fucks sake." She got rid of her frustrations and finally turned to Weiss. "And Weiss, just... ugh just go."

"Uhhhh, okay," she nodded dumbly, shocked at her outburst. She then walked off, but not before giving a death glare to Nero, who responded equally.

"Nero..." Aurea started off.

"Yes, Aurea?" He said in a low tone, knowing what was coming.

"Do you really have to bring that here? I mean you two almost crossed the line there! God, Nero please have some restraints," she ranted in a frustrated tone.

"Ok ok, geez, don't blame me for that"

"Well, you started the fight, so I have the right to blame you," she chided.

"Well...okay maybe that was my fault, but you know why right? Every time I see her, I just ugh..." Nero sighed in frustration.

Aurea's expression softened looking at this. "Nero, you know you can't do this. I mean, the two of you weren't like this before. Nero, she's your..."

"Ahp ahp ahp, I don't want hear anything. As far as I'm concerned, she's a Schnee and they are all assholes," he interrupted stubbornly, signaling the end of the conversation.

Aurea just sighed. She knew the reasons behind all this rivalry, and while she understands why he did it, she just wants everything to be back to normal.

"Uhhhh, hey," a voice called out.

Nero and Aurea turned, and saw the girl from before and a guy.

He was about as tall as Nero, but he looks lankier, if anything. He has dark blue eyes and a messy blonde hair. His armor consists of a white chest spauldron and shoulder plates along with a pair of elbow guards. Underneath that is a black and orange hoodie. He also wears a pair of jeans and sneakers, which gives off this casual aura around him unlike Nero, who looks menacing.

"Sorry, we kinda overheard your conversation," the guy started off nervously.

Aurea just shrugged it off. "Nah it's fine. Gotten used to it."

"Oh and the name's Jaune Arc," he introduced himself, "and this is Ruby."

The girl now named Ruby waved her hands. "Hey."

Aurea just smiled." Nice to meet you Jaune, Ruby. My name's Aurea, and this idiot over here," motioning to Nero who was staring at Ruby, "is Nero."

"Uhhhh...hey," he greeted awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.

"Hey aren't you the guy at the airship just now?" Ruby asked innocently.

Nero just turned his head away in embarrassment, not wanting to meet Ruby's eye.

'God she looks so adorable,' he thought while blushing.

"Uhmmm yeah, that was me," he said, face red with embarrassment.

"You know him Ruby?" Jaune asked confused.

"Well... he was staring at me at the airship," she said while gaining a blush of her own.

"Awww thats so adorable, you two, but nows not the time for that," Aurea said teasing the two who began sputtering nonsense, "besides, weren't you the one who was fussing over some 'gross' thing at the airship?"

"Well that was not our fault, it was Jaune's," Ruby said quickly, "he vomited over my sister's shoe and everything."

Hearing this, Nero and Aurea laughed.

"Hahahahaha, wait that was you Jaune?" Nero said while still laughing.

Jaune just groaned as his new friends laughed.

(Some time later)

"Look, I'm just saying that motion sickness is much more common problem than people would like to admit."

This seems to be the conversation between the new group of friends we have here.

Nero chuckled while the girls giggled at Jaunes defense of his condition.

"Well I'm sorry, but Vomit Boy was the first thing that came up in my mind," said Ruby still giggling.

"Well, what if I call you Crater Face, huh?" Replied Jaune.

"Hey, that was an accident just now," Ruby said quickly in embarrassment. She doesn't really want to remember the incident just now.

Jaune just gave a huff.

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc. Short and sweet. Ladies love it," he said with confidence.

Nero snorted and laughed.

"Really Jaune? You really believe that?"

Jaune replied nervously, "They will. Well, I hope they will. My mom always says that."

"We'll see bout that, Jaune," said Nero.

"Oh yeah, bout that," Jaune said, pointing at Nero and Aurea, "Are you two ummm... together?"

Ruby for some reason lit up hearing the question and turned to the two who had blank faces. Few seconds later, they just burst out laughing.

"Oh god, Jaune that was hilarious," Cried Aurea still clutching her stomach from laughing.

"Ummmmm, what?" Was Jaune's response.

After their laughter died down, Aurea answered his question.

"No, Jaune we're not. We're just really close friends."

Nero continued, "Aurea's family and mine's were like really close, so we've been friend since like I was born. And since Aurea's older, I treat her like an older sister, and vice versa."

For some reason, Ruby sighed in relief.

'Wait, why am I happy? I mean, sure he's handsome and all and his eyes are just NO. Ruby, you are not here to look at handsome boys with pretty eyes, you are here to be a huntress.' She thought trying to rid herself of any bad thoughts.

"Wait how old are you, Aurea?" Questioned Ruby, curious by his statement.

"I'm 18, even if that's not really obvious," replied Aurea, knowing where this is going.

Jaune and Ruby was surprised, Ruby not so much since she is only 15 years old, but still it made her curious.

"Wait, then why aren't you a second year then?" This time its Jaune asking, confused about the situation.

Nero and Aurea just looked at each other. After a few seconds of silence, Nero answered the question.

"It's...personal reasons."

"Oh."

Both curious minds instantly stopped pressing for more. They knew when something is personal. After that, it became awkward, no one knowing on what to say.

All of a sudden, Ruby took out the metallic object at her back (which honestly got them curious).

"Sooooo, I got this," she said as she uncurled the object, revealing a scythe.

"Whoa, easy," Jaune was scared and very much surprised.

Nero and Aurea were also surprised but immediately change to an impressed look, seeing as the scythe is way bigger than Ruby herself.

Jaune then said, "What is that?"

"It's my weapon. It's also a high impact action sniper rifle," Ruby replied with pride.

"A what?"

"It's also a gun."

"Oh."

"Wow, I'll have to admit, I'm impressed Ruby," Nero said, very impressed at the weapon, "Did you use a light-weight alloy?"

Ruby perked up at this, a gleam in her eyes.

"Yeah, I got some from my uncle, so it's not as heavy as it looks," Ruby said excitedly.

"Wow, you really love weapons eh Ruby?" Asked Aurea with a smile.

"Of course, they're like an extension of ourself," replied Ruby, before turning to Jaune.

"What's your weapon Jaune?" She asked Jaune.

"Ummmm...well, I got this," Jaune said nervously as he took out a sword from the sheath.

"Ooooohhhh," Ruby was impressed with it, although it doesn't look as impressive as hers. Nero and Aurea just watched intently.

"And I got this too," Jaune continued, taking the sheath as well before actually changing it to a shield.

"What does it do," Ruby questioned innocently.

"Well, it can turn into the sheath, so if I get tired of carrying it, I can just put it back," Jaune answered showing the mechanism of his shield/sheath.

"Wait, wouldn't it just weight the same and all?" Nero asked this time.

Jaune just slumped his back and replied with a yes.

"Well, it's okay, I mean, I did went overboard when creating my weapon," Ruby said sheepishly

"Wait, you made your weapon?" Questioned Jaune.

"Yeah, all students studying at combat academy forged their own weapon," Aurea replied.

Nero snorted.

"Pfft, yeah right, like I wasn't the one who made your weapon Aurea."

"Shut up Nero. It's not my fault that I failed the practical sides of it," snapped Aurea, flustered by her inability to forge a weapon.

Jaune just rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, mine's more of a hand-me-down. My great grandfather used it during the Great War."

"Well, sounds like a family heirloom to me," Ruby said, trying to reassure Jaune, "I like it. Not a lot of people has an appreciation for the classics nowadays."

"Yeah, Jaune, as long as it helps you fight, its fine," Aurea said, trying to add her two cents.

Ruby then turned to Nero. "How bout you Nero?" She asked, the gleam in her eyes still apparent.

Nero just rub the back of his head nervously. "I don't know Ruby..."

"Oh c'mon, PLEEEAASSSSEEE," pleaded Ruby, bringing out her puppy dog eyes.

Nero obvious couldn't handle the cuteness of her face and relented. Meanwhile, Aurea just snickered while thinking.

'Wow, not even together, and he's already whipped. I can't wait to pair this two up.'

"You guys might want to move back a bit," he warned.

They followed his instructions and took a few steps back. After that, Nero took out his weapon at the back and uncurled it, revealing a HUGE ASS broadsword. It was about two metres long and almost forty centimeters wide. So huge is quite an understatement.

Ruby instantly went wild with glee, the weapon otaku in her going wild as she marveled at the weapon in front of her.

"OHMYGOD THAT IS SO COOL! DID YOU MAKE THIS?! WHAT ALLOY DID YOU USE? IS THERE ANY OTHER FUNCTIONS? CAN I SEE YOUR BLUEPRINTS?" She asked in quick succession, obviously excited.

"Wow wow there Ruby, chill out," Nero said trying to settle Ruby down with no avail.

"I CAN'T! I MEAN THIS LOOKS SO AWESOME, I MEAN IT LOOKS WAY COOLER THAN MINE. I NEED TO KNOW NERO! I NEED TO KNOW!" Obviously in her fangirl mode as she hugged Nero in utter bliss.

Nero just blushed as her body made contact with her.

'She feels nice.' was his thought.

"Well Ruby, I'll answer question. So just calm down and..." he said and blushed before continuing, "can you let me go?"

Ruby snapped out of her trance before realising her position, in which she let go while blushing furiously and stammered an apology.

"S-s-s-s-sorry b-b-bout that. I do that sometimes when i see something like this." She said, her face red as a tomato.

'His arm feels so nice though' she thought, 'I wish that I hadn't let it go earlier.'

Meanwhile, Jaune and Aurea was standing at the sidelines, obviously amused by their interactions.

'Man, these two are so getting together I swear,' Aurea thought.

'Man, Nero is so lucky to have a cute girl like Ruby. Wish I can have one, was Jaune's thought.

"It's okay Ruby, I understand," Nero said, smiling softly at her before continuing, "okay, so for your questions. First of all, yes I made this , I made this using some Titanium alloy, so in case you're wondering it weighs around almost a hundred kilograms. Three, yes there is another function but I'm keeping it a secret," he gave out a grin at seeing her pout, "and for the last one, I'll think about it.

"Wow, you are so cool Nero," Jaune was obviously at awe.

"Nero, how did you carry it then?" Asked Ruby confused, seeing as that thing is way heavier than him.

He just shrugged his shoulder before replying, "Eh, I'm used to it. I mean, I made this when I was 14, so it took me almost a year before I can even make a half-decent swing with it.

Ruby and Jaune became more impressed.

'That must be why his arms are so strong,' Ruby thought with a blush, 'NO, bad thoughts Ruby, bad thoughts.'

Aurea then interjected, "Now while its nice to see you two bonding together nicely, I must say, I think its time for us to go to the Auditorium."

Ruby and Nero just sputtered and blushed for the millionth time while Jaune just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"So, you guys know where we're going?" Jaune asked.

"Uhmm, I don't know. I was following you hoping that you'd know," Ruby replied sheepishly.

"Well I was following Nero and Aurea hoping they'd know," Jaune replied back, obviously not knowing anything.

Aurea just rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"You two..." she said.

(Location: Beacon Academy Auditorium)

A few moments later, they arrived at the auditorium. When they entered, they heard someone calling out to Ruby. They turned to the source, and saw the blonde girl who was with Ruby in the airship, presumably her sister Yang. Ruby immediately ran off to her, while Nero and Aurea looked at each other and shrugged before following Ruby, leaving Jaune behind.

Jaune just groaned and said, "Oh man, where am I supposed to find some cool people to talk to?"

Meanwhile with Ruby, Nero and Aurea...

"Hey sis, how's it going?" Yang asked.

Ruby snapped, "You mean after you ditched me and I exploded?"

"Yikes, meltdown already?"

"Ugh, I wish," said the young girl in frustration, "I met his crabby girl and then there were some explosion, I think some ice, and electric too."

Yang seemed unsure with Ruby's response.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Asked the blonde in a teasing tone.

"Unfortunately, she's not," a voice called out.

Yang looked up and saw a guy in blacks and a girl in white.

"Ummm, sorry, but who are you?" Yang asked not knowing who they are.

Aurea answered the question.

"We're Ruby's friend. I'm Aurea and he's Nero."

"Sup," greeted the teen in black.

Yang suddenly gushed in happiness.

"Ohhh, I'm so proud of you Ruby! Making friends already," she said excitedly, then taking a flirtatious tone while looking at Nero, "especially one so...hot."

Nero felt uncomfortable. I mean, a hot girl is flirting with him.

Yang walked to him and place a finger on his chest.

"So how bout it, hotshot?" Yang purred, "How bout we take this somewhere more," she leaned on his ears and whispered, "private?"

At this point, Nero is a stuttering mess. His brains is definitely frying. Aurea just watched in amusement while Ruby on the other hand, is pouting, seemingly jealous of the interactions.

Ruby cried out, "Yang, get off of him," pulling Yang from the mess that is Nero. She continued, "and stop flirting with people."

This time, Yang turned to Ruby with a teasing smile.

"Why not Ruby? You don't want me messing with your boyfriend over here?" She teased while pointing to Nero.

Ruby started blushing and sputtering nonsense, while Nero, who was already frying from Yang's flirting just blushed even more.

Aurea just laughed, amused by what is happening in front of her.

"You know Yang. I think we're going to be best friends around here," Aurea said with a smile.

"Yeah, I think we will," Yang replied with a grin.

As they were talking, another voice called out, "What's this? You ditching me for your new friends, Yang?"

They turned to see a boy, taller than Yang but definitely shorter than Nero. He was wearing a sleeveless orange vest and black pants with a knee guard. He was wearing a fingerless glove (a lot of people seems to) and combat boots. His red hair is spiky with his bangs hanging on the temples and a pair of goggles covered the upper parts of his head. His green eyes and his smile gives off a cocky attitude, which seems legit.

"Seriously, Yang. I left you for a few minutes and you already ditched me," he said in a fake hurt tone, placing a hand on his chest, "I thought we were best friends."

Yang just snorted. Apparently she was used to this already.

"Oh please, Rouge. Stop being so melodramatic," said Yang.

The guy, named Rouge apparently, just put up a grin.

"What can I say? That's my charm," he said.

"So, mind introducing me to these people? Asked Rouge.

"Oh right, this one is my sister Ruby," she said, pointing to Ruby who waved her hands at Rouge, "and these are Ruby's friend, Nero and Aurea."

The two greeted with a hello (Aurea) and 'sup' (Nero).

Rouge then greeted back and walked towards Aurea, and suddenly said, "You got a grape?"

Aurea was confused now.

"Uhhhhhh, no?" She replied, uncertain.

Rogue gave a toothy grin, before saying, "How bout a date?"

On cue, Nero, Ruby and Aurea facepalmed at the obviously horrible puns, while Yang just laughed.

"Oh god, that was like horrible man," Nero said groaning.

"Seriously, you flirt with girls like that?" Aurea asked that, obviously exasperated with the puns.

"Oh come on guys, that was 'punny' right?" Rouge said with a smug smile.

Hearing that, the three just facepalmed even harder.

"Yang, where did you find this guy?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Oh, its a long story," replied Yang staring at Rouge as she said it.

Rouge rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Meanwhile, someone approached the group as they were talking.

"You!" The person called out.

They turned around and saw Weiss, with hands on her hips and her signature scowl on her face. Ruby immediately jump in fright into Nero's arm who blushed.

Ruby cried out, "No, not again."

The heiress continued to scold the younger girl.

"You're lucky we didn't get blown off a cliff."

Rogue was confused while Yang had a shocked face as she realised that Ruby wasn't lying.

"Oh my god, you really exploded," she said.

Ruby removed herself from Nero's arms and waved her arms, saying, "It was an accident! It was an accident!"

Then a paper was shoved into her face.

"Uhhh, what's this?" She asked.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product," ranted the heiress, "Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy-to-follow guide to Dust application and practice in the field."

Ruby was now blank, overloaded with the information.

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Asked the white haired girl, to which Ruby answered with a nod. "Read this and don't ever speak to me again!"

Nero who was watching this, was annoyed with how Weiss treated the hooded girl.

"Hey princess, I think you should lay off of her," snapped the heir.

Weiss turned to him with an offended look.

"Excuse me? I am not talking to you Nero," said Weiss.

Aurea groaned, knowing that another argument is going to happen. Yang and Rouge just stood there totally confused while Ruby had a concerned look for Nero.

"Well, I'm talking to you Schnee," Nero retorted.

"Ugh, what is your problem now huh?" Asked the Schnee, frustration evident in her tone.

"Well, my problem with you is that, you're messing with my friend over here," pointing to Ruby, "and I don't like it. So if you would please, screw off!"

Weiss was slackjawed at his words, and she seems to look hurt by his tone.

Yang who seems to have had enough cut off their conversation.

"Look I think you guys should chill out." The blonde advised.

Then she looked at Ruby and Weiss and said, "As for you two, I'm sure you got off at the wrong foot, so why don't you guys just start over?"

Ruby was very glad hearing her sister's words.

"She's right," she said looking at Weiss, offering a handshake.

"*Ehem* Hello Weiss, my name is Ruby. Why don't we go shop for school supplies?" She said.

Weiss then replied with sarcasm in her tone.

"Oh, then we can go paint our nails, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde and scraggly there." She pointed her thumb to Jaune who actually perked up.

Unfortunately, Ruby didn't notice Weiss's sarcasm.

"So, is that a yes?" Questioned the silver eyed girl excitedly.

Weiss put on a frown and paused, before replying coldly with a No.

Nero was seething at Weiss right now. But before he could say anything, someone cleared his throat stopping him any further.

At the stage with a microphone, was Professor Ozpin himself, the headmaster of Beacon Academy.

 **(A/N: I think by this point, you all should know how he looks like right? So I'm just gonna skip his description)**

"I'll...keep this brief." He said before continuing. "You have traveled here today in search of knowledge-to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose – direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." He then left the stage. The hall was filled with confusion as his words sink in to every students.

Then, Glynda, who was besides Ozpin the whole time went to the microphone.

"You will all gather at the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow will be your initiation. Be ready," said the professor before dismissing the students.

The group of young future Hunstman and Huntresses however.

"What's with Ozpin?" Said Aurea, unnerved by his speech. "I mean, he seems so...off."

"Yeah, it's like he's not even there," added Yang.

The tension suddenly disappeared, when Jaune appeared and said to Weiss.

"I'm a natural blond, you know."

Weiss just facepalmed and shook her head, while the rest chuckled (the guys) and giggled (the girls).

(Location: Beacon Academy Ballroom)

A few hours later, at night...

Nero was lying on his sleeping bag, wearing a black muscle shirt and grey shorts. With no one bothering him right now (Aurea is currently at the restroom and he doesnt really know where the rest are). He was deep in thought right now.

'Well, so far so good. Beacon's fine and everything, I made some friends and they seemed nice, especially Ruby,' he gained a blush as he remembered his encounter with the scythe wielding girl. 'Though, why the hell does Weiss have to be here?' He got a scowl thinking about his rival. 'Sigh, I guess you can't get everything you want.'

"Hey, whatchu thinking there huh?" A voice called out.

He stopped his line of thought and turned to the voice. It was Rouge, wearing nothing but a sweatpants, a grin on his face.

"What do you want Rouge?" Nero asked boredly.

"What, this is how you treat your best friend?" He joked. "And I thought Weiss was cold."

Nero frowned at his words. He was nothing alike with the Schnee heiress.

"Wait, since when am I your best friend huh? Asked the sword wielding teen.

Rogue just gave a grin.

"Of course you're my best friend. We guys must stick together in this harsh world ruled by the evil that is woman," he joked while waving his arms.

Nero actually chuckled. He seems to find Rouge to be interesting despite his quirks.

"Okay, that may be true. But seriously, why are you here?" Nero asked again.

Rouge just shrugged and said, "Well I wanted to talk."

"About what?"

"You know, bout that spat you have with the Ice Queen just now."

Nero groaned at this.

"Ugh, seriously dude." He said, annoyed. "Are you gonna lecture me like Aurea again?"

Rogue put his arms in surrender.

"Hey, I'm just here to help OK?" He said quickly. "And I'm curious. I mean what's your deal with her?"

Nero sighed. He doesn't really want to talk about. It just brought him old memories.

"It's... it's a long story man," he said.

Rogue was definitely curious now.

"I mean, it can't just be some old business feud right?"

"It's something like that... wait what, how did you know?" Nero questioned. He never revealed his identity as a Carbone to anyone so far.

Rouge just snorted. "Oh please, I may be joking most of the time, but I'm not an idiot. I know who you are, Nero Carbone.

To say Nero was surprised is an understatement. He certainly didn't expect anyone to find out his identity this early, and certainly not from Rouge who looks carefree to his surroundings. Maybe the red haired guy is more than meets the eye.

"So what is it really?" Asked Rouge.

Nero had a sad look on his face, reminiscing about his past.

"It's personal, Rouge. I can't say," Nero said solemnly.

Rouge saw Nero's expression and immediately let it go. He thinks that Nero will tell him sooner or later.

"It's okay, it's cool." He said, "Hey, you're not sleeping anytime soon?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Well, why don't we walk around?" Offered the red hair. "It might help cool you off."

After a few seconds of thought, Nero just shrugged and agreed.

As they walked around, they were greeted by a lot of interesting sights. Boys flexing their muscles hoping to attract some girls (Nero scoffed at this), Girls huddling together gossiping about celebrities and boys (Rouge was curious about this one) and Jaune walking around in a onesie (they both shivered at this). When they were about to return back to their beds (sleeping bags), they heard noises. Looking at each other, they then tried to find the source. When they found it, Rouge sighed while Nero narrowed his eyes. In front of them was Ruby, Yang, Weiss bickering (well it's more Yang and Weiss, Ruby tried to settle them down to no avail) and a girl sitting with her book watching them fight.

She was wearing a black sleeping gown. Her long black hair had a little black bow on top of her, and her yellow eyes seemed catlike. She actually gives off a mysterious feel around her.

"Why do you hate my sister huh?" Yang cried out.

Weiss replied loudly, "She's a hazard to my health.

Nero interjected, "Well, I think that you're a hazard to everyone's health Schnee."

The three turned to see Nero, with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, and Rouge who was facepalming while shaking his head off.

"Ugh, what is your problem with me Nero?" Snarked Weiss, obviously annoyed with his appearance.

"I think you know damn well what my problem is," Nero retorted with venom in his tone.

"Ugh, you are such an insufferable fool," Weiss replied with equal tone.

"Well, I maybe a fool, but I don't go around destroying people's self esteem to raise her own."

"How dare you! Your mouth is as foul as your appearance."

"Well, your attitude are just like your family's, rotten."

"Hey! You do not speak of my family like that!"

Before their argument escalates into something worse, the lights was turned off, presumably by the black haired girl. After that, since the mood instantly vanished, everyone returned back to their respective beds.

"You really hate that girl, don't you?" Rouge asked, shaking his head.

"Not in the mood, Rouge," Nero growled. He really wasn't in a great mood after that spat.

"Nero, where the hell were you?" A voice called out, annoyed.

The duo turned to see Aurea, wearing her nightwear, with hands on her hips.

Nero turned his face away, not wanting to make eye contact with Aurea.

"Uhhhhh..."

Rouge just rolled his eyes. Then he answered the blonde's question.

"We were taking a walk. Then it seems that this guy here," pointing at Nero, "can't seem to resist and fulfilled his fight quota with our resident Ice Queen."

Nero instantly glared at Rouge who just gave him a grin.

Aurea, on the other hand, is not amused.

"What?!"

"Look, Aurea it wasn't..." he tried to defend himself.

"No, Nero, no more excuses!" To say she is mad is an understatement.

"I told you from the start not to start any fight with her! And look what you've done! You had THREE fucking fights with her. God Nero, if this keeps happening, you two won't even survive one day in Beacon."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! She was mocking my friends! I couldn't just stand there!"

"Yeah right, trying to excuse yourself again. I bet you were looking for a chance to butt in, right?"

"Uhhh..." Nero was speechless now. To be honest, that was what really happened.

Aurea sighed in frustration and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Nero, stop being such a kid. It's bout time to get this childish rivalry over with. You two might be teammates for the next 4 years." Chided the blonde, before her expression softened. "Please Nero, at least do this for us."

She was really angry, but she just wanted Nero's safety above all else. And she was scared that this rivalry might result in something worse if it continued.

Nero who was silent the whole time thought this over. It probably wasn't a bad idea to stop this rivalry with the Schnee heiress. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

'I mean we used to be... no stop thinking about the past Nero. It's useless after all.'

After some thoughts, Nero sighed.

"Okay fine. I'll try...to be civil with her. No promises though. But this is for you and mom."

Aurea just smiled softly.

"That's all I asked for."

Rouge who was watching the scene just grinned and place his arm over Nero's shoulder.

"So, now that's all and over with, what's this bout being teammates?" He asked.

"It's just a rumor," Aurea replied disinterested.

Nero, who was tired from everything that happened today, just lied back on his bed, and let the darkness take over.

Author's Note: AND DONE! God, I certainly didn't expect 7k words in one go. Nonetheless, I would say nice work for me, although it seemed packed with dialogues than anything, and that scares me for some reason. But I digress. My words means nothing if you don't like it right? So, hope you have fun reading this and do give out any reviews, especially for the OCs, whether it is good or bad. Although, I have to warn you, if I find any reviews that are derogatory or just fucking useless, I'll just laugh and give off a middle finger, so don't even tempt me people. I never go back on my words.

So yeah, people, Read and Review.

Adios amigos (I'm not Spanish btw).


	2. Ch 2 Initiation : Emerald Forest

**Hello, fellow readers. King of Blacks here. Now I see no reviews for my first chap T.T, but I digress. I'm still new at this, so I wasn't expecting a lot anyway. Now, as a reminder to you all, my updates for the chapters are kinda random and all so don't expect a lot o updates, probably once a month, if you're lucky, twice. But yeah, don't expect much from me. So, without further ado, let's start off the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter 1.**

Our Purpose

Chapter 2: Initiation- Emerald Forest

(3rd person POV)

(Location: Beacon Academy Ballroom)

The morning was beautiful. Everything was peaceful and quiet. Nothing could disturb the tranquility of this...

"Wake up lazy bud!"

Never mind.

Everyone in the room seemed to have been woken up by that noise, particularly one young man, who was the intended target.

He was about as tall as Rouge. He has long black hair tied up into a ponytail with a magenta streak that matches his eyes. He wears a green long-sleeved tailcoat with black and gold trimmings and pink cuffs. He also wears white pants and black shoes.

The girl next to him, the one who shouted before this, sang out "Its morning" repeatedly while moving around the room hyperactively.

She was about the height of Ruby and Weiss, with short orange hair and turquoise eyes. She wears a black collared vest with a symbol of lightning and hammer at the back. Underneath it was a white sleeveless top with a heart shape between her cleavage and collarbone and detached sleeves. She also wears pink fingerless gloves and armor covering her shoulders and waist. She wears a pink skirt from her waist reaching to her knees, and shoes with a mix of pink and white colour.

The girl was obviously excited for the upcoming initiation, waking the guy who seemed to be her friend- which is odd considering their contrasting personalities- and following him everywhere.

In the restrooms..

"I can't believe we've been in Beacon for twenty-four hours," rambled the girl. "Not that we would get kicked out or anything, I mean you're the perfect student and me, I'm me hehehe."

In the ballroom...

"We've been friends for soooooooo long! What are the odds we'd still be together? Well, not 'together-together'... Not that I'm not saying that you're not handsome; you are handsome, but that'd just be weird, right?" The girl continued on while eating, the boy seemingly not caring of her (or was used to her attitude).

In the cafeteria...

"Right! What was I thinking? But still, I hope we end up on the same team together! Ooh, I know! I think we should be in a team together. Let's make a plan. Hmmmm...How about bribing the headmaster? Nah that won't work, he has the school."

In the lockers room...

"I know! We'll have some sort of signal! Like a distress signal! *gasps* A secret signal so we can find each other in the forest! Can you imitate a sloth?" The girl still rambling to no end. Then, the boy turns to the girl, holding his weapon, a twin pistols with blades attached, and speaks for the first time.

"Nora?" He called out.

The girl, Nora responded with a, "Yes, Ren?"

"I don't think sloths make a lot of noises," he revealed after sliding his weapon into his sleeves (how does that work really?).

Nora paused for a few seconds before jumping excitedly.

"That's perfect! No one will suspect us working together," she cried out.

As she rambled more to Ren, they walked past Ruby and Yang, in their combat outfits, as Yang wondered what got the two excited. She then turned to Ruby who looked happy.

"Hey, what's got you excited sis?" Asked the blonde.

"No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking," Ruby replied happily.

Yang, in response to that, played with her hair nervously and replied, "I don't know Ruby. Maybe you should go and make some friends here."

Ruby groaned in frustration. She was seriously tired of hearing people telling her to make friends. I mean, it's not like it's going to help her in combat right?

"Okay, first of all, what does making friends have to do with fighting? And secondly, I don't need people to grow up. I drink milk." She said while puffing her chest out as if proud of the fact.

A voice then spoke, "You know, you're not that tall, right Ruby?"

The sisters turned to see Rouge grinning, Aurea and Nero behind him, in their combat outfit.

Ruby was offended by that statement. She wasn't that short...right?

"Hey, just wait Rouge. In a few years, I'll beat you all" She said menacingly while at the same time pouting, thus making her looks adorable.

They just smiled hearing her innocent statement. Nero patted her head and said teasingly, "Yeah, yeah, we believe you." He then turned to Yang. "So, what brought this height thing on?"

"Well, my dear sister Ruby here doesn't want to make any friends and insists on going alone without a teammate," answered Yang with a shake of her head.

"Well, I can be your teammate if you want," the Carbone heir blurted out, not realising the implication. Aurea face palmed, muttering about the obliviousness of boys, while Rogue and Yang just grinned. Ruby blushed up a storm hearing his words.

"Well, Ruby there you go. You got one teammate. Just find two more and you're set to go," encouraged the elder sister. Ruby was miffed at this, although her face was still red.

She gave Yang a pointed look and said, "My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you don't want to be in the same team as me?"

Yang quickly put her hands in surrender.

"No, no, no, I just umm want you to break out of your shell, that's all."

If Ruby wasn't annoyed before, now she was. She really did not to hear these kinds of things.

She yelled out, "Break out of my shell?! That's.."

"RIDICULOUS!"

Out came our lovable blond, Jaune Arc, seemingly complaining about his locker number. As he walked through the halls, we see Weiss Schnee and a red-headed girl wearing bronze armor and red skirt. She is quite tall for her age, and she seemed to hold herself with the grace and confidence of a true warrior.

"So Pyrrha, who do you think is going to be in your team? I'm sure a lot of people want to be with an esteemed fighter such as yourself," Asked the heiress.

"I'm not sure." Said the Amazonian warrior thoughtfully. "I was planning to let the chips fall where they may."

Weiss nodded in agreement. "Well, I was wondering if we could be on a team together." Offered the Heiress. Pyrrha seemed to agree with her proposal. As Pyrrha agreed, Weiss had her own monologue in her mind.

'This will be perfect! The smartest girl in class combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable! I can see it now - we'll be popular, we'll be celebrities, we'll get perfect grades! Nothing could come between us now!' She thought darkly.

Her 'happy' thoughts were interrupted by our clumsy blond, appearing in between Weiss and Pyrrha.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc, nice to meet you." Said Jaune flirtatiously.

Weiss was not impressed with his attempt (then again, when is she impressed with anything?) while Pyrrha greeted Jaune kindly, but was ignored as Jaune continues his attempts to woo the white haired girl.

"So, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day," Weiss face palmed hearing his words, and Jaune, who seemed oblivious continued, "Oh don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, heard the rumors 'bout teams, so I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you say, huh?"

Nero, who was watching this scene unfolds, just frowned.

"Jeez, what does he see in her?" Muttered the heir.

"Hey, cut him some slack, okay?" Yang said, defending Jaune. "This is probably his first crush or something."

Nero scoffed. "Well, couldn't have picked a better one, huh?"

"Uh, I mean Weiss can't be that bad right?" Ruby interjected weakly.

"Why are you defending her Ruby? She's the who called you out!"

"Well, I did mess up her Dust supplies and stuff." Defended Ruby, trying to justify Weiss's action the other day.

Aurea on the other hand...

"Okay, that's enough Nero." Ordered Aurea. "Remember what I said yesterday?" She gave him a pointed look.

Nero just sighed and settled down. He knew Aurea would have brought up last night's conversation again if it meant making the two heirs friends. Before he could speak up, a sound of whishing could be heard followed by cry of apology. The group of friends turned around to see Jaune stuck on a wall, embedded by a spear which belonged to Pyrrha. Immediately after that, an announcement by Glynda was heard calling the first years to the cliff for the initiation. Hearing this Nero and the group walked away, but not before stopping to help Jaune.

"Hey there hotshot." Yang called out. "Having a hard time?"

"I don't understand. My dad said all a woman wants is confidence." Jaune said, still downcast from what happened.

"Well, Snow Angel probably wasn't the best idea," Yang said sympathetically.

"Yeah, maybe call her the Ice Queen or something," Rouge jested, earning him an elbow to the ribs by Yang.

Nero tried to give his own input. "Well, I think you're doing this with the wrong person." Aurea gave him a look to which he just shrugged. Nero then brought Jaune back up and placed an arm around his shoulder as he helped him walk while Ruby comforted him.

(Location: Beacon Academy Cliffside)

All the first years were currently lined up on the cliff. Ozpin and Glynda was also there as the supervisor of the initiation.

"For years, you have trained as warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Said Ozpin.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Glynda continued. Ruby was getting nervous by the minute and this certainly did not help.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time in Beacon, so it is in your best interest to pair up with someone you work well with." Ruby was practically jittering right now, while Nero just sighed. He knew it was not as easy as it seems. At the very least, someone here shared his sentiments.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

'...Shit.'

Nero's thought hearing Ozpin's statement. He could practically hear the world crumbling around Ruby and flinched as she cried out in pure despair.

'Damn it, Ozpin you're not helping me with this.' He thought. He's not exactly a social guy either and this is not making things any better.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path...or you will die." Ozpin warned grimly. Jaune gulped audibly hearing this. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item as well as your standing and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Jaune raised his hands to ask something, but was cut off by Ozpin who signals the students to prepare for takeoff.

"So uh sir, this landing...strategy thing, are you gonna drop us off or something?" Jaune asked nervously as the others were launched from the platform one by one.

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin replied politely, seemingly not caring of Jaune's situation.

"Oh...okay, so uh did you like hand out parachutes to us or something?"

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy." Another reply from Ozpin.

"Uh huh, so what is this landing strategYYY!" He was launched off the platform before finishing his sentence. Ozpin just sipped his coffee watching the students.

(Location: Emerald Forest)

"Birdie, no!"

That was what Nero heard as he was thrown to the sky and falling to the forest. Not wanting to land with any pain, he quickly took out his sword, before pressing a trigger, causing the Dust cylinder on his sword to spin. He activated the wind Dust and performed a slash, creating a wind blade cutting through the trees. After that, he stabbed at one of the trees and back flipped before landing to the ground.

"Hmmm, I give that a 9/10." He said proudly. Now, having landed safely, he turned around, watching for any signs of Grimms or other students, keeping his broadsword ready. Finding the coast clear, he sighed in relief, and walked towards what he thinks is the north. As he trekked the forest, he was thinking of any potential partners he could possibly want to have.

"Well, Aurea's good, but then again, she's probably up ahead, so chances are small. Rogue? Well, not sure about his skills though but at least he talks to me. Yang will probably just flirt with me or something. Ruby...' He gained a blushed thinking about the scythe wielding girl before shaking his head. Before he could think any further, he heard a bush rustling, which made him turn and gripped his sword ready to strike down any threats. The bush rustled again before a figure came out of it. The figure was decidedly not a Grimm, but a Faunus, as he had the ears of an animal on top of his head (probably a wolf, thought Nero). He was tall and imposing with a muscular build, has yellow eyes which gave him a feral look. His clothing is unique, as it is a blue tribesman clothes, particularly one from the northern area, and his clothing has a lot of tribal patterns seemingly made from Dust. He also exudes the aura of a warrior.

"Whoa" was Nero's response seeing the guy. The atmosphere was quiet and awkward, as one of them doesn't know what to say, and the other doesn't want to say anything. After a few seconds of silence, Nero spoke.

"So uh, seems like you're my partner eh?"

"So it seems." The Faunus replied gruffly.

"Okay, so uh, the name's Nero. How 'bout you?" Nero greeted, still unsure of what to do.

"Azur."

"Oh, okay."

...

...

...

...

"Uhhhh, you know where we're going?" He really is bad at these kinds of things.

"Of course, follow me." Azur then walked away. Nero just sighed at this. It's just his luck to get the quiet one. Oh well, at least it's not Weiss. Which reminded him.

'What are the others doing?'

(With Aurea...)

Sigh.

"Hey, I'm not that bad, am I?" A voice called out. It was Rouge, who was apparently partnered up with Aurea who was sitting down the tree, sighing at her own luck. It's just her luck to get the guy with the bad puns. Well, at least it's not some jerk or anything.

"You...ugh just don't make any puns okay?" Aurea warned with a stern look on her face, daring the red head to mess with her.

"Okay, okay jeez, chillax okay," Rouge said putting his hands up in surrender. "You don't have to be Weiss cold to me right?"

The look from Aurea was enough to shut him up.

"Let's just go, okay?" Said the Blonde.

The two then walked away, hoping to find the temple and get this over with.

(With Ruby and Weiss)

"It's this way."

Weiss was walking back and forth seemingly trying to find a way to the temple as they have no idea where they are. Ruby on the other hand, was sitting on the ground, bored and in distraught after all the events that happened.

'Stupid Weiss, why do I have to pair up with her? I mean, at least Nero's nice and handsome, ugh okay not the time. But still, why Weiss of all people? And if that's not all, we just had to make part of the forest burn and all that stuff. Ugh stupid meanie Weiss' she ranted in her mind.

"Okay, it's official. We passed through it." Weiss finally gave up.

"Why can't you just admit that you don't know where we're going?" Ruby cried out in frustration.

"I know where we're going. We're going to uhhhhhh...the temple in the forest." Ruby scoffed at this. "Oh, it's not like you're helping or anything."

"Well at least, I don't think that I know everything." Retorted the silver eyed girl.

Weiss was flabbergasted and said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you." Ruby was reaching her breaking point now.

"Ugh, just keep moving." Ordered the white haired girl frustrated.

""Oh, just keep moving! Hurry up! Waaaah! Watch where you're going!" Why are you so bossy?" The younger girl mocked.

Weiss immediately turned around.

"I'm not bossy! Stop saying things like that!" Weiss cried out in denial.

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well, stop acting like you're perfect!"

Weiss quickly recoiled at this, but recovered nonetheless.

"I'm not perfect," She denied. "Not yet. But I'm still leagues better than you." She then walked away.

"You don't even know me." Ruby muttered in a deflated tone, obviously hurt from Weiss's word.

(With Nero and Azur)

The pair of human and Faunus walk through the forest, as Azur led Nero to the temple, as he can find the temple with his animal senses. The two haven't spoken to each other after their encounter, with Nero being an awkward person, and Azur seemingly a lone wolf **(See what I did there?)**

"Soooo, Azur..." Nero started. Azur turned to face Nero.

"What is it?"

"Uhh, what's with the getup?" Nero asked nervously. "I mean, it's not like its cold or anything."

Azur was silent for a moment before he continued walking. Nero sighed, expecting this kind of response from the Faunus.

"It's my weapon" Azur called out.

"...huh?" Nero replied dumbly.

"It's my weapon. This clothing is coated by Dust using a special technique made by my clan." Azur responded. "It enhances my abilities, giving me greater strength, speed and defense."

"Whoa, damn that's cool." Nero was at awe after his explanation. He knew Dust weaving is an ancient technique, but he never knew it could do that.

"Wait, so where are you from? I mean, this kind of clothes isn't exactly local stuffs."

"I live near the northern Wastelands. Further from Atlas."

"Then, why go to Beacon? Isn't that a little bit too far? I mean, it's called the Wastelands for a reason, right?"

This time Azur remained silent. Nero took this as a cue to end his questionings, knowing that this is a private matter.

(With Yang and Blake)

Yang, who was paired up with Blake, walked through the forest finally found the temple. It was more or less a mess, with destroyed pillars everywhere and an altar, with something like chess pieces laid around on some pedestals.

"Looks like this is it huh?" Muttered Yang. Blake just nodded in agreement. She wasn't really the type to talk. As they observed, some of the chess pieces were missing, indicating that there were others who arrived before them. Yang strolled around and eventually picked a white knight piece **(A/N: IT WAS FREAKING GOLD! NOT WHITE!)** and waved it around Blake.

"So, how 'bout a cute little pony?" Blake just rolled her eyes, but kept a smile on her face.

"So, is that it?" Whined Yang.

"Well, it's not like this place is hard to find to begin with." Replied Blake, looking disinterested as usual.

(With Jaune and Pyrrha)

Jaune and Pyrrha, partnered together now stood in front of a cave with several cavemen paintings about a giant scorpion and the cavemen.

"You think this is it?"

Pyrrha remained silent, still observing the cave. As they entered the cave, Jaune holding a torch, then Pyrrha gave her response.

"I don't think this is it." Groaning at her late response, the blond turned to Pyrrha and said, "Pyrrha, I made the torch. Could you at least, humor me for a couple of meters?"

Just as he said that, Jaune tripped and face planted to the ground, dropping the torch to a wad of puddle, dousing the flame, engulfing the room in total darkness.

"Do you feel that Jaune?" Asked Pyrrha.

"Soul crushing regret?" Responded Jaune glumly.

"No, not that. It feels...warm."

As they trekked further inside the cave, they stumbled upon a floating, glowing object.

"The relic!" Was Jaune's thought. Pyrrha on the other hand wasn't convinced, though she felt familiar with the object itself. Jaune tried to grab the 'relic', but it was pulled back by a mysterious force. Jaune stubbornly tried to grab it again, this time successful. Then, Pyrrha had a sudden realisation of what the object is.

"Jaune..." Pyrrha tried to warn, but was a bit too late as multiple red glows appeared, revealing that the 'relic' was in fact a Death Stalker.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

(With Nero and Azur)

"What was that?" Nero cried out.

"It seems like some girl is in trouble." Was Azur's reply. The two was near the ruins when they heard a shrill, feminine scream (which came from Jaune actually) echoing from a distance. "It doesn't matter. Our objectives are in front of us. Someone else will take care of that."

"You sure? That scream doesn't seem like their having a good time." The heir questioned.

"Yes."

All of a sudden, they felt the earth rumbling.

"What now?" Nero was getting frustrated with the situation now. Azur was looking around to find the cause of the rumble when he heard someone scream out a string of profanities.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shiiiit!" A male voice screamed.

"This is all your fault!" Followed by a female voice, seemingly blaming the male. Nero was familiar with the voices and turned to the source of the voice. What he saw made his jaw dropped and eyes wide. In a distance, Rouge and Aurea was running from a horde of Grimms of multiple types.

"Shit." He turned to Azur who was also shocked from the scene. The two stared at each other before proceeding to run away from the mess. Fortunately (Or unfortunately) Rogue and Aurea caught up with them, the hordes still hot on their trail.

"Sup Nero, how ya doing?" Rouge greeted with a grin.

"Sup?! Is that all you have to say?! The fuck's up with the horde hounding our asses here?"

This time Aurea was the who responded.

"Well we were just walking around to find the temple, when this numbskull," she glared intensely at Rouge, "had the genius idea of pissing at a King Taijitu's head!"

"It was an accident, okay? I thought that was a rock!"

"Well, rock doesn't have eyes, you idiot!"

"Okay, that was stupid, but where does the horde came from?" Nero asked, still confused and panicked.

"Oh that was because Aurea was so smart, "Now Rouge just glared at Aurea, who was still glaring at him, "she had to burnt part of the forest filled with packs of Ursa and Beowolves."

"Hey, that was an accident, okay? I didn't mean to burn the forest!" Aurea tried to defend herself, but the blush on her face says it all.

"Yeah, just like how I accidentally pissed on the Taijitu!"

"You don't 'accidentally' piss in someone!"

"Well, I do!"

"No, you don't!"

"ENOUGH!" The two stopped arguing at the commanding voice of Azur, who they did not recognised.

"Uhh who are you?" Questioned the red headed guy. Nero just face palmed at this.

"Okay, Aurea, Rogue, this is Azur my partner. Azur, Aurea and Rouge, my friends. So, now that that's all and over with, I think I should tell you guys that we just passed through the ruins."

"What?! Why didn't you tell us?" The pair exclaimed.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe cause we're still getting CHASED BY A FUCKING HORDE OF GRIMMS!" Nero said thoughtfully before shouting off at the end. They then realised they are still running from the horde of Grimm. Not wasting any time, the four Huntsmen in training took a turn to the ruins, with the horde still trailing behind them. As the neared their destination...

"Shit, a cliff." Rouge cried out.

"Fuck it, just jump." Was Nero's appropriate response. Azur, Nero and Rogue jumped off the cliff. Aurea meanwhile stopped running and sighed.

'Looks like this is it, huh?' She thought before giving out a smile.

"Wait, where's the girl?" Azur asked as he looked around to find the blonde. "Did she get left behind or something?"

"Oh don't worry 'bout her." Nero assured, giving out a smirk. "Knowing her, she's probably gonna be ahead of us."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see..."

(Location: Abandoned Temple in Emerald Forest)

"You are so childish. And dim-witted, and hyperactive, and don't even get me started on your fighting style." Weiss voice was heard around the ruins as she scolded Ruby after almost getting killed by a Death Stalker (the one that Jaune messed with). The Death Stalker in question had its stinger frozen while Ruby lied on the ground, her cape stuck after she almost got pelted by Nevermore's feather.

Weiss continued her rant, her tone now softer and regretful, "And I suppose, I can be a bit... difficult... but if we're going to do this, we're going to have to do this together. So if you quit trying to show off, I'll be... nicer."

"I'm not trying to show off." muttered Ruby softly. "I just want you to know that I can do it."

"Pft, you're fine." Scoffed the heiress, but her words does not have any tone of malice, showing her approval over the younger girl. Ruby sighed in relief hearing her statement, whispering "normal knees" to herself. Yang, who saw the scene, ran up to Ruby and hugged her tightly, happy that her younger sister is safe. But their celebration was cut short by a shout of "Help". Everyone at the ruins turned to the source and their eyes widened at the hordes of Grimms chasing three people, two of them they knew (well, most of them). Not only that, there was also Aurea who was...flying?

"Is.."

"..She.."

"FLYING?!" was everyone's question. But then, they quickly returned to reality as they realised things just got worse with the appearance of the horde.

"Hey! How 'bout some help over here?!" Nero cried out, panic apparent in his tone.

Not wasting any time, everyone fired off rounds of Dusts (those who can anyway) to the hordes, covering for the four to safety. They managed to kill some of the many Grimms in front of them with Weiss conjuring an ice prison, halting the advance of the other Grimms. Nero and the others finally reached their side and landed on their butts, panting after their long run. Ruby immediately rushed to Nero who was lying on the ground.

"Nero! Are you okay?" Asked the red haired girl in worry.

"Yeah...just...fine..." Nero replied in between pants.

"Whew, thank goodness. I was worried when I didn't saw you around," she then got a blush realising her words, quickly waving her arms in denial, "Not that I think you're weak or anything."

Yang chose to cut off the two.

"Not to burst in your couple's reunion or anything," the aforementioned two just blushed harder and glare at Yang who grinned, before turning to Aurea, "but what the hell was that just now?"

Aurea had the decency to look sheepish before answering her question.

"That was my weapons just now." She said as she revealed a pair of metallic wings coming out from her backpack. "This pack is actually a jet booster that allows me to fly, and the wings are the stablisers you could say. They can also send out beams of Plasma Dusts from the feathers."

Everyone was at awe and impressed after her explanation. Ruby squealed looking at Aurea's weapon and asked for more details about it, before getting interrupted by Azur.

"That is nice and all but remember. We still have to finish the initiation."

"Ummmm, speaking of finish..." Jaune said nervously as he stared up to the sky. "The Nevermore's circling back."

Well, usually they would have fought it, but...

"We've got no time to waste. We don't have to fight all these Grimms." Ren gave his piece of advice.

"He's right. Our job is to get the relics and return to the cliff. We don't have to fight." Said Ruby.

"Run and live. That's a plan I can go with." Jaune quickly agreed with Ruby's idea. Everyone else also was in agreement with it. It was the best course of plan.

"She's right." Nero added, now having regained his breath. "Besides, if worst comes to worst, there's twelve capable fighters here. We can take on these Grimms anytime." He stared at everyone else, ending with Ruby who gave him a heartfelt smile.

Nero, Aurea, Ruby and Jaune each approached the pedestal, taking a relic each, Jaune taking the white rook, Ruby the white knight, and Aurea and Nero taking the black rooks. Not wasting any time, the twelve first years ran away from the temple, hoping to finish the initiation, Ruby taking the lead. Yang stared as her sister with pride before moving on with the rest.

Just when they thought things are getting better, the Giant Nevermore finally caught up to them, landing at the other side of the chasm, effectively blocking their paths. Not only that, but the Death Stalker and other Grimms have managed to escape from ice prisons.

"They just don't make it easy, do they?" Aurea muttered angrily as they hid behind one of the pillars.

"Well, I don't think they cared either way." Azur retorted.

Nero cut them off before any arguments happen.

"Enough, I think it's time for plan B."

"Wait, we have a Plan B?" Rouge asked confused.

"Not really." Nero admitted. As the Grimms approaches, all of them sprung into action. With an order from Jaune, Nora transformed her Magnhild to grenade launcher form, and fired a few rounds to the Nevermore, while Ren, Pyrrha and Blake fired at the Death Stalker, the second highest threat of all.

"Jaune!" The heir cried out. "Take care of the Death Stalker. We'll handle the rest."

Jaune just nodded nervously, obviously never having taken charge of a team. Nero signaled Azur, Rouge and Aurea to follow him as they took on the less threatening but more numerous Grimms.

"You sure we got this?" Rouge asked.

"Nope, why?" Answered the Carbone without hesitation.

"Well, I think its nice knowing you guys."

"Don't be so sure on that" Azur interrupted, his fists ready.

"So, leader," Aurea stated, referring to Nero, "what's the plan?"

Nero gave a smirk and paused before answering.

"Rain hell on these fuckers."

With that said, the four immediately charged to the masses of Grimms. Rouge took out his weapons, a pair of pile drivers shaped into tonfas. Not wasting any time, he fired several pressurised fire blast, to a nearby Ursa, instantly blowing its head off. He then ran to a Beowolf, gave out multiple strikes all around, before piercing the head using the pile driver.

Azur meanwhile, was fighting off several Ursas bigger than him, with relative ease. The tribal drawings on his clothes are glowing, signifying that his abilities are now augmented. He delivered an uppercut on one of the bear-like Grimms before immediately kicking it off, throwing it few metres away, knocking into other Grimm in the process. One of the Ursa charged towards the Wolf Faunus and tried to slash him, but with his enhanced strength, he blocked it with just an arm and smirked, and kneed the Grimm who fell to the ground, before punching it down, leaving a sizable crater afterwards.

Aurea, who was up flying with her jetpack, easily took out any Grimm, as there are none that can reach her easily, except for some King Taijitus. She then flapped the metallic wings, unleashing torrents of Plasma Dust onto the Grimms below, causing a small explosion. Behind her, one of the heads of a King Taijitu attempted to pounce at her, but with her honed reflex, she managed to dodge it. Conjuring two spears made from light, she threw the two with precision at the eyes of the Taijitu, effectively downing it.

"Whoa, what was that?" Rogue exclaimed, astounded by the spears of light appearing out of nowhere. Aurea gave a wink and answered his question.

"That...is my semblance. I'll tell you some other time." Rouge just shrugged and continued battling the Grimms.

 **(A/N: This Plasma Dust thing is an idea of my own, since Aurea's weapon is quite possibly the hardest one to design out of all, so I had to make up some shit so that it make sense...a bit)**

Nero right now is slashing the Grimms expertly, before a Major Ursa stood in front of him, staring and growling menacingly at his 'prey'. Nero just smirked arrogantly, back stepping a slash by the Grimm before thrusting his sword, stabbing it in the chest before slashing it upwards, effectively splitting the head off. With no interruptions, the Carbone Scion immediately rushed forward throwing his sword to a Beowolf, which ended up stuck on his head. He then performed some acrobatics, grabbing his sword again in the process, and slashed downwards before landing on the ground, as a bisected Ursa fell apart.

In a matter of time, the four made quick work of the Grimm, as the Grimm's immature minds were no match for the honed skills of four huntsmen in training, all of them prodigies in their own right.

"So, did we got them all?" Rouge asked hopefully.

Aurea replied with a smile. "I think so."

"If that's the case," he gave a smirk and jumped in victory. "Whoopee! Damn we kicked some ass."

"That, we did." Nero concurred. Azur just gave a feral smirk. Nero looked around for the others, before giving out another smile.

"Well, looks like we're not the only ones done here." Nero said, watching as Ruby stood on top of the cliff, after severing the head of the Giant Nevermore.

"Damn, they got some better kills than us." Whine the red head joker. "All we got are some small ones."

Aurea gave Rouge a flick on his forehead. "Just let it be. Besides, we'll get our chances." Nero just ignored the two, still gazing at Ruby's form, with a huge smile on his face.

(Location: Beacon Academy Auditorium)

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark."

Ozpin's voice rang loudly as he announced the names of the students on the stage.

"The four of you have retrieved the Black Bishop pieces. From this day onwards, you will be Team CRDL (Cardinal). Lead by Cardin Winchester."

The four aforementioned students just stood proudly. Following that, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora arrived to the stage.

"Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. The four of you have retrieved the White Rook pieces. From today onwards, you will be under Team JNPR (Juniper). Lead by Jaune Arc."

Jaune stumbled when he heard his name being announced as the leader.

"Wait, what?!" He cried out. Ozpin just gave a smile and said.

"Congratulations, young man." Pyrrha who was next to him gave him a light punch to his sides, which apparently wasn't light at all as Jaune fell to the ground, much to the amusement of the audience.

"Aurea Gabriels, Rouge Chevalier, Azur Castillo and Nero Carbone."

This time, it was their turn to take the stage. There were gasps and murmur of shock when they heard Nero's name being announced. They have heard of the Schnee heiress attending Beacon, but for the Carbone Scion to join as well?!

"The four of you have retrieved the Black Rook pieces. From today onwards, you will be under team NARA (Nara). Lead by Nero Carbone."

Nero was shocked with the announcement, but kept his reactions inside and smiled instead. Aurea tried to punch her sides, but he didn't budge as much seeing as he is much taller and bulkier than her.

"Finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long."

The four aforementioned girls stood in front of Ozpin as he announced their names.

"The four of you have retrieved the White Knight Pieces. From today onwards, you will be under team RWBY (Ruby). Lead by Ruby Rose."

Weiss was shocked hearing this, but none more so than Ruby, who looked like a fish out of water. Yang, the girl she is, ran up to Ruby and gave her a bear hug, crying out about how proud she is, while Ruby tried to pry off of her. Ozpin just stared at the four Huntresses in training.

"Well...looks like this is going to be an interesting year." He said loudly, but more to himself than to the audiences.

 **Author's Note: Well that was a wrap. Honestly, this chapter wasn't really the best one I've done, so far. Just doesn't have that good of a drive compared to the first one. But anyways, theres all the main OCs, all introduced and the teams formed. Keep in mind, that, they won't be the only one, as there'll probably be some minors around. I don't have much to say anyway (introverted and all). So, to those readers, hope you enjoy these. And please do give me a review. It helps ease my minds. Anything would be fine as long as its not a damn insult.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	3. Ch 3 The Badge and the Burden

**Author's Note: Sup everyone! King of Blacks here back with another chapter ready. Now, you may ask. What took me so long to post this chapter? Answer: 1. I love to procrastinate. 2. These writer blocks keep me from writing shit here. 3. I'm waiting for today which is the release for VOLUME 4! I'm so excited for it. And from what I've seen so far, I am not disappointed at all. Improved graphics and all, more intense plot coming right up, and new stuffs coming right up. Though I'm sad that Yang didn't get a new arm. I'll fix that soon enough (That's a hint in case you don't get it). So yeah, but anyway, I've tried my best to make the best for every chapters I write. Which is why I have friends. To fix my mistakes. They got better English than me, and one of them is actually a fan fiction writer. Anyway, without further ado, let's start off the story. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: It's in chapter 1. And I'm sure you should know this stuff by now.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 3: The Badge and the Burden

(Location: Beacon Academy Dormitory, Team NARA's room)

It was the day after the initiation in the Emerald Forest, and every team has been given a room in the dorms to reside for the next four years. Right now, Nero was sleeping soundly on his bed, when all of a sudden...

 ***SPLASH***

He immediately woke up to see Aurea grinning, while holding a dripping bucket.

"What the hell was that?!" He growled. Aurea put on a thoughtful look, before answering.

"Well, seeing as you're a student in Beacon now, I think it is my duty as your sister to wake you up early." Nero gave her a deadpanned look that said 'you kidding me'.

"Okay first of all, again you're not my sister." He said while putting up his finger." Two, do you really need to dump a bucket of water on me?" He glared pointedly at her when she just gave a teasing smile. "And three, this is like what?...seven?!" He turned to look at her who just nodded.

"You woke me up at FUCKING SEVEN IN THE MORNING?"

A nod from Aurea.

"Seriously?!" Another nod from Aurea.

Nero gave her a glare so deadly he could probably kill a Grimm, but Aurea having been used to it just shrugged. Nero just sighed tiredly. He did not really need these kinds of shits.

"Who the hell wakes up at seven in the morning?" He mumbled, but Aurea heard him.

"Oh, no one does, but we got something to do today." She replied chirpily.

"Then why did you-" He shouted before her words sink in. "Wait, we?"

"Duh, we. Our team." The blonde rolled her eyes and pointed to another part of the room. He turned and saw Rouge, who was wet and sighing (probably the same case as Nero) and Azur, who was still lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, both of them still in their sleeping wears.

"Oh." Nero face palmed at his own stupidity, before he continued, "Okay, so how 'bout we all take a shower first before we do what Aurea wants. Is that good?" He was met with nods of agreement from everyone.

After they showered and changed clothes, everyone was now seated on their beds, refreshed from the cold shower before. They are all wearing their Beacon Academy uniform which consists of a brown jacket with the Beacon logo on the left breast side, a blue and white undershirt and a tie for the boys. For the girls, the undershirt was a white blouse, and they had red checkered skirt instead of brown trousers.

"Okay, so now Aurea," Nero started, staring at Aurea as he talked, "what exactly is this thing you want us to do?"

Aurea was playing with her braid, a sheepish expression on her face.

"Well, I was wondering if we could you know...'break the ice' with all of us?" Replied Aurea nervously. The three boys just stared at her before looking at one another.

"Should we?" Rouge inquired.

"I don't see why not," Azur spoke up. "We haven't really known each other much outside of battle, not including Nero and Aurea. So this would be a great opportunity to do so."

The boys looked at one another once more before giving a nod, agreeing with Aurea's plan. The girl clapped her hands happily at the boys' agreement.

"But still though, why wake us at seven in the morning?" Rouge muttered under his breath.

Nero sighed before turning to Aurea.

"So, how're we gonna do this?" The heir asked. Aurea just looked at him expectantly, as well as the rest. "What?"

"Well, you're the leader. You're supposed to be the one doing this first." Aurea replied haughtily. Nero sighed for the umpteenth time today. Being a leader looks more like a chore to him as the day goes.

"Okay. So, let's tell our name, age, likes and dislikes, all the basic stuffs. And if you want to add anything else, it's up to you. Since I'm the leader, I'll start this off." He cleared his throat before continuing. "So, the name's Nero Carbone and I'm 17, graduated top of my class in Atlas. Unless you guys haven't known yet, I'm the heir of the Carbone Dust Mining Corporation." Unknown to the rest, Azur clenched his fists tightly hearing the statement. "My likes, ummmm I guess you could say that I like training, my family and the color black. Oh and I like to cook too. My dislikes are my title as heir, people who look at me for my surname instead of myself, those who mess with my precious people and when Aurea and Noir tease me."

"Noir?" Rouge raised an eyebrow hearing that name.

"My twin sister, basically."

"Ummm, not one like Aurea?"

Nero laughed hearing that. "No, she's my biological twin. Except her hair's all black unlike mine."

Rouge and Azur accepted his response and motioned him to continue.

"Right, where was I? Oh right, my dreams..." He had a thoughtful look while thinking about the answer for this. "Well, to be honest I don't really have a dream. All my life, I was labeled as the heir of the Carbone, expected to lead the company in the future. Well, I don't really want that, and that's why I joined the Atlas Academy to be a Huntsman. And that's why I'm in Beacon right now. To find my real purpose." He finished with a solemn smile, as Aurea stares at him with a sense of sisterly pride. "Okay, now since I'm done who's next?"

The remaining three stared at each other, before Azur sighed and volunteered.

"Very well then." The wolf Faunus started. "My name is Azur Castillo, a warrior of the Castillo Clan in the Northern Wastelands. I'm 17 as is the case with most of us here. My likes are meat, wolves, " Rouge snickered at this, but Azur ignored it and continued, "and hunting as well as training."

"You hunt for food?" Nero asked which got him a weird look from Azur.

"We live in the Wastelands. Of course we hunt." The Faunus deadpanned.

"Okay, okay, stupid question.." The heir relented.

"As I was saying before I got interrupted, my dislikes are hypocrites, people who abuses their authority, the White Fangs, people who discriminate the Faunus."

The tension around the room felt thick as he said out those words. They certainly did not expect their Faunus member to have distrust against human, and were not sure how this would affect their team. Finally, Nero voiced out their question.

"Azur...do you hate humans?" He asked with concern.

Azur was silent for a moment. Then, he let out a sigh before answering.

"While I do not trust humans and I do hold resentment against them due to...events in the past, I do not hate them. I will not bring myself to the levels of the White Fangs who hurt the innocents in their quest for equality." He then stared at Nero with a serious look before continuing. "I assure you that this issue of mine will not interfere with the camaraderie of our team. Is that good enough for an answer?"

The leader of Team NARA simply gave a sigh of relief and nodded.

"Okay. For the last one, I'll tell you my reasons why I entered Beacon. The first one, it's a part of my coming-to-age ceremony. Basically we have to travel around the world when we reach 17. And the second reason...you could say is a part of my destiny." As Azur ended his speech, Nero, Rouge and Aurea realised that the wolf Faunus is more enigmatic than he seems. But they won't pry into his affairs until he can resolve his problems with humans. And so with that, only two are left to introduce themselves.

"So, who's next?" Nero asked. The two stared at each other intently, the hands clenching into fists seemingly ready for combat. The room became silent for a few moments, with Azur and Nero leaning forward in curiosity and then...

"ROCK, PAPERS, SCISSORS, SHOOT!"

The two immediately face planted, expecting something dramatic as the redhead and the blonde faced off with a scissor from Aurea and paper from Rouge.

"HA! I win!" She exclaimed while Rouge had his head down in shame. Meanwhile Nero just shook his head off his team member's childishness.

"Well, best get it over with." Rouge sighed before bringing his head up and pointed his thumb to his chest. "The name's Rouge Chevalier, just call me Rouge. I'm 17 and I joined Beacon after staying around Vale for seven months or so." That got a look of interest from Nero.

"You're not from here?" He questioned.

"Nah, not really. I'm actually from Vacuo but I moved to Vale for...reasons." He had a rare sad look as he said it, which made Nero stopped himself from asking any further. Rouge got back to his cheerful face quickly and continued. "Any who, my likes are chili peppers, spicy foods, inventing stuffs, yeah I'm a sucker for machines and stuff, my part time job in Downtown Vale and cracking puns. My dislikes are beaches, people who mess with my stuff," giving a suspicious look to the three, "and those jerk who only cares for your title."

"And finally, why I go to Beacon?" He had a sheepish grin on him as he said it, "I wanted to be like my bro, who was like the best Huntsman I've ever known, and I guess I also wanted to make a name for myself out there." He gave a mock bow as he finished his introduction, which the others did not respond to. They were more concerned by how Rouge described his own brother in past tense. It indicated that something happened to him. As they were thinking, they realised that the red head seems to hide even more things than Azur, which surprised them considering that Rouge was the carefree type.

Their thought processes was interrupted by Rouge who was staring at them.

"Hey guys, what's wrong?" He asked with a tilt on his head.

"Oh, uh nothing Rouge, just thinking 'bout something." Aurea quickly replied. Rouge did not seem convinced but let it go. "So, I guess it's my turn now, eh?" She straightened herself up before starting her introduction.

"I'm Aurea Gabriels, 18 years old, and I came from Atlas just like Nero. Anyway, he's like a brother to me but I'm actually officially his guardian like my family did in the past." Azur immediately raised a question.

"So, you're his retainer to be exact?"

"Well, technically I'm Nero and Noir's, but yeah I'm their retainer. It's a tradition for a Gabriels to be a Carbone's guardian since the Creation of Kingdoms. That's also the reason why I got held back a year, so I could stay with Nero. Is that all?"

"One more, why is Nero the only one going to Beacon?"

"Well, actually he was supposed to be the heir for the company, but he was stubborn as a mule and he doesn't want to have the company so he convinced his parents to join Atlas before going to Beacon." She shot the heir a stern look which he just huffed.

"Aurea, you know as well as I do that leading the company is not my thing."

Azur interrupted them. "Well, it's actually quite admirable that you don't want your title as an heir to define you."

"See, at least someone here appreciates me." Grinned Nero as he pats the Faunus at the back.

Aurea just rolled her eyes. "Anyway, my likes are reading, gardening, especially my lilies back at home and having fun with Nero and Noir." Nero scowled at the mention of her 'fun'. He knew that meant having fun at his expense. "My dislikes are dahlias, bullies and those who discriminates others, having people mess with my hair." She gave a look at Nero as she said it. "And those snobby rich people."

"No offense, but aren't you one of those rich people?" Snorted Rouge.

"Yeah, but I'm not snobby. Are you saying I am?" She asked while glaring at Rouge.

The red head quickly shook his head. Aurea smirked at his response.

"Good, now where was I? Oh right, the reason why I came here, I wanted to be stronger so that in the future, I can protect those I cared for, and as a Huntress, I can contribute myself in protecting Remnant." She then turned to Nero and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders. "That and I have to take care of this knucklehead before he kills himself."

"Hey, I resent that!" Said knucklehead protested. Everyone in the room laughed, including Nero as Aurea ended her introduction. After the laughter died down, Nero smiled as he looked at his teammates.

'A Faunus with trust issues, a class clown with more secrets than the military and an annoying sister. Looks like I got the best of the batch.' He thought jokingly.

"So leader," Rouge called out, interrupting his thought process, "what's next on the agenda?"

"Right, now we're checking our class schedules." Rouge immediately groaned.

"Oh man, that sucks. Class on the first day?"

"Well, it's how it works. Not that we can do anything 'bout it. Anyway the first class is-" before he could continue, a cry was heard.

"It's 8.55 you dunce!"

"Isn't that Weiss just now?" Asked Aurea.

"Yeah, and she said its 8.55..." Nero drawled out, before looking at the schedule. His eyes immediately widened.

"Shit! Our class's in five minutes." He cursed.

"WHAT?!" Was the response from the rest.

Team NARA immediately looked out of their room to see Team RWBY and JNPR running out of their respective rooms. Not wanting to be late, the four dashed out to class, following the other teams. On their way, they passed Professor Glynda, who stared at them with disapproval, and Ozpin who just sipped his coffee calmly.

* * *

(Location: Classroom)

"Monsters! Deeeemons ... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

The room was filled with utter silence as the horrible joke settled in the classroom. Clearly everyone was not interested in the lecture, as seen from Ruby who was sleeping, Blake and Yang barely paying attention and others who was fighting the urge to sleep. In fact, only Weiss and Aurea seem to be taking notes. Not for lack of trying though. It was the teacher who bore them to death.

The man in question, Professor Port, was a middle aged man with a somewhat overweight stature. He wears a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons. The pants he were tucked into olive boots.

Seeing as his jokes were not well received, he simply continued his lecture. "Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses..." At this point, he gave a not-so-subtle wink at Yang, who groaned uncomfortably. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

Rouge, deciding to make a debut in the class, raised his fist and cried out, "Ayy-yep!" This got him strange looks from everyone while his team shook their heads and palmed their face.

"That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..." At this point, everyone just tuned out the professor's voice save for some (Weiss and Aurea).

"Rouge, you are an embarrassment." Nero said, shaking his head from Rouge's stunt.

"Hey, I was trying to lighten up the mood" Rouge defended himself.

"Yeah right, if by that you mean making a fool of yourself, then yes you really lighten up the mood." The Carbone heir retorted.

"Oh shut up, you just don't appreciate a joke."

Aurea turned to the two bickering pairs and silenced them with a glare.

"Could you two please shut up? I'm trying to focus here. God, it's like dealing with kids here." She hissed.

"It's not like you can take much notes from this guy." Rouge muttered.

"Well, at least you should listen to his lecture. Right Azur?" She nudged him, getting no response. "Azur?" She turned to see him sleeping soundly.

"You serious?" The girl deadpanned. This is the most stoic member of the team?

"You can't exactly blame him. The professor's lecture is more like a lullaby to me." Rouge tried to calm her down.

"Ugh, am I the only sane person in the group?" She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. Rouge just shrugged.

"Probably. Sanity's overrated anyway, right Nero?" He also got no response from his leader."Nero?" He looked at Nero, who was staring below, specifically at a certain red hooded girl.

"Oi lover boy!" Rouge called out, while snapping his fingers in front of Nero's face, immediately ending his tranced state.

"Huh, what?" Said Nero.

"You know, if you want to stare at her like that forever, maybe you should just take a picture." Rouge teased with a grin. Nero immediately spluttered as his cheeks warmed up.

"W-w-what are you t-talking about? I'm just l-looking out for her." He stammered, trying to defend himself to no avail as Rouge kept up his grin.

"Yeahhhh right, 'looking out' for her. I believe you bro." The red head drawled out. Nero, not wanting to embarrass himself any further just mumbled a 'shut up' and continued taking notes (whichever he can).

* * *

(With Team RWBY)

Weiss knew that she was not a person with much patience, but right now it is taking all of her willpower to not to rip her hair out. Not only was she not elected as leader of Team RWBY (something that should have been rightfully hers), but said leader is right now goofing off during lessons and not taking any notes as she should have. Currently Ruby was showing a mockery doodle of Professor Port, rightfully named 'Professor Poop', and the rest of her team was laughing at the drawing.

'Seriously! Why is this child even here?!' She fumed inwardly. In her opinion, Ruby is NOT worthy of being in Beacon let alone as a leader of a team. 'I should go to Professor Ozpin and ask him to make me the leader.'

Her internal rant was cut off by a clearing of throat from the portly Huntsman **(Ha! Get it?)** demanding their attention. He then continued on his story. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" He gave a bow, unaware of the heiress's increasing frustration with her leader.

"The moral of the story here is a true Huntsman must be honorable..."

Weiss patience was thinning as Ruby was balancing an apple on a book with her pencil while holding it with one finger and making a silly face.

"...a true Huntsman must be dependable..."

Ruby was sleeping again, and snoring quite loudly.

"...and a true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated and wise."

Now she is not-so-subtly picking her nose. Weiss was definitely not amused.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" Professor Port questioned jovially.

Weiss, unable to hold her anger anymore raised her hand and cried out, "I do sir."

"Well then, let's find out, shall we?" Was Port's answer, showing a cage with red eyes glowing inside it. **(Seriously, how did they not see that?)**

"Let's face your opponent, shall we?"

* * *

(Back to Team NARA)

"Oh damn, princess doesn't look too happy." Rouge said.

"Please, since when is she happy?" Nero remarked bitterly.

"Nero, shut up." Aurea chided. "But you're right. What's her issue now?"

"I don't know, probably not satisfied with your girlfriend over there?" Rouge suggested.

"Rouge, not funny. And she's not my girlfriend." Nero scowled.

"No, I'm serious. She doesn't seem happy with Ruby goofing off just now." Rouge replied back

"Well, let's hope that she doesn't blow up like before." Sighed Aurea. Nero meanwhile frowned and kept silent.

Weiss was standing in front of the class, wearing her battle outfit and having her Myrtenaster ready to strike the Grimm in front of her. Her teammates were cheering for her at the sidelines.

"Goooo Weiss!" Cheered Yang.

"Fight well." Blake said as she waved a small flag with RWBY on it.

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!" Ruby cried out excitedly. Weiss, who was still in a foul mood turned to Ruby and snapped.

"Ruby, I'm trying to focus here." Ruby just looked sheepish although she was confused with the heiress's attitude. Nero, on the other hand was not amused, but Aurea's word kept him from reacting.

"Alllllright," the professor announced, holding his blunderbuss axe ready, "Let the match begin." He smash the lock, opening the cage, revealing a boar-like Grimm, Boarbatusk which immediately charged at the prey in front of it, in this case Weiss. She deflected the attack using Myrtenaster and rolled to the side, trying to prepare her next move, as the Boarbatusk increased their gap to study its prey.

"Ha-ha, didn't expect that, did ya?" Professor Port taunted. Ruby tried to cheer for her partner.

"Hang in there Weiss!"

The heiress, rising up to the taunt dashed to the Grimm, hoping to pierce its skull, only to have the tusk blocking it, causing her rapier to be stuck.

"Bold approach, I like it!" The professor cried out.

"Come on Weiss, show it whose boss." She shouted, but Weiss only turned around and gave her a scathing glare. Unfortunately this mistake led to the Boarbatusk ripping her weapon off while knocking her to the ground.

"Oooh, what will you do without your weapon?"

The white-haired girl recovered just in time to roll away from a charge by the beast, causing it to crash to the desk. Not wasting any time, she immediately rushed and grabbed her weapon lying on the ground.

"Go for its belly Weiss! There's no armor underneath."

Weiss, finally sick of her leader turned around and spat. "Stop telling me what to do!" Making Ruby shrunk down and hurt from her words. Meanwhile, the Boarbatusk was currently curling up into a ball and rolling up, quickly accelerating and then charged towards Weiss. She held her ground for a moment, before conjuring a blue glyph as the boar-like Grimm collided with it, effectively blocking the attack and sending the monster to the ground with its belly exposed. Taking advantage of her downed opponent, she leaped towards the glyph, now black in colour, and turning it blue again so she can drive her rapier to the belly of her opponent. The Boarbatusk gave out a squeal before dropping to the ground, dead. Weiss gasped in relief as her battle finally ended.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" The professor congratulated as Weiss stood up from her exhausted position and Ruby still frowning from her words. Not long after that, the bell rang indicating the end of the class. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss gave a glare at Ruby before marching out of the classroom, with Ruby immediately following her.

"Sheesh, what's with her?" Jaune said as he watched the heiress left with a foul mood.

The other two of Team RWBY shrugged their shoulders, not really knowing what the problem is. Nero, who was gritting his teeth after watching their interaction, stood up and walked away, intent on following the two, but Aurea held his arm to stop him.

"Nero, I know what you're thinking," she said with narrowed eyes, before giving out a sigh, "and I think you're right in this."

Well, he did not expect that.

"Huh?"

"She went kinda overboard about this, so I would understand if you want to get mad at her." She explained. "But please, try to...try to resolve this nicely."

Nero was silent for a moment before giving out a reply.

"Sure, but no promises." And with that, he left to find Ruby and Weiss.

"Hmmm, couldn't have done any worse eh?" Rouge asked.

"Well, I don't think I could stop him at this point." She replied. "Besides, he needed this."

Rouge was confused. What does Nero have to do with this? But before he could ask his question, he was cut off by Azur finally stirring out of his sleep.

"Huh, huh, is class over yet?" The two couldn't help but face palm at this.

* * *

(With Nero)

As Nero ran around the hallway, he finally stumbled upon the two people he was looking for at the corner arguing. He decided against showing up and peeked from the corner.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-?" Ruby cried out.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!" Weiss retorted with frustration. "You're supposed to be our leader but all you've been so far is a nuisance."

The younger girl scoffed. "What did I do?"

"That's exactly it. You've done nothing to earn your position. In the forest, you acted like a child and you've only continued to do so."

Ruby felt hurt from the words and was shown by how meek she looks like. "Weiss, where is this coming from? I thought you believe in working as a team."

"Not on a team lead by you." She spat acidly. "I've studied and trained. And quite frankly, I deserved better." She turned around and started walking away. Ruby tried to reach out to her, but Weiss's word stopped her.

"Ozpin made a mistake."

Ruby just stood there, dejected and tears threatening to fall. Nero decided to approach her.

"Uhhhh, Ruby?" He asked nervously. "You okay?"

"Nero, what are you doing here?" Ruby said meekly.

"I followed you guys," He replied, his hand at the back of his head. "And I kinda overheard your argument with Weiss."

"Oh."

"You know Ruby, you shouldn't let her words get to you-" He tried to comfort her but was cut off by the crying girl.

"Was she right?" She asked.

"What?"

"Was it a mistake to make me a leader?"

"Ruby..." Nero stared at her, before sighing. "I'm not sure."

"Huh?" She looked up at Nero. Nero placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Ruby, it's only been one day after the team was formed." He said. "I don't think any of us knows if any of us are good leaders or anything. Weiss was just overreacting because she didn't get picked."

"But she was right. I was acting like a child." She was sniffling, remembering her attitude in class.

"That's a given Ruby." The heir stated much to her sadness. Sensing her emotions, he explained. "Ruby, you're only 15, while the rest of us here are 17. No one expects you to grow up within three days of entering. That's just stupid." Ruby sniffled and nodded, taking in his words. "That being said, Weiss has a point, though she could have said it in a nicer way."

"What?"

"Let me ask you? Did you take any notes just now?" He asked. She just looked down in shame. She didn't do anything other than goofing around. Tear started glistening on her eyes again.

"Ruby, I'm not mad at you or anything." He comforted her. "But, I think Weiss was mad 'cause you weren't showing a good example for your team, which is what a leader's supposed to do. So, if you want to prove her wrong. If you want to start being a good leader, you have to start getting serious about your studies."

Ruby was silent as she digested his words. Nero looked concerned when she remained quiet for a while.

"Uhhhh, Ruby? Did I say something wrong?" He asked in worry. His worry quickly turned to embarrassment when Ruby enveloped the tall boy in a hug. His cheeks suddenly warmed up at the physical contact.

"Thanks, Nero." She muttered softly.

"Uhhhh, y-y-yeah, s-s-sure Ruby. N-no problem." He stammered his way for a reply. Apparently, she didn't realise the effects of her hug to him.

'Stop thinking dirty thoughts, she's just your friend. Your cute, adorable friend who is hugging you right now DAMMIT!' He tried to shake his thoughts off. He could imagine Rouge and Aurea with their teasing grin if they ever saw this.

"Nero," Ruby called out, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Yes Rubes? He said, not realising his nickname for Ruby. She just giggled at it.

"Why do you hate Weiss?" She asked, staring at his red eyes. Nero's expression changed to a solemn one.

"It's...it's a long story." He tried to evade the question.

"Is it that complicated?" She kept pressing on.

"Not really..." He replied as he was reminded of his past. When everything was fine. But he shook it off. "Look, it's just something stupid that I can't let go. It's not important, okay?" He really wanted to get out of this topic.

"It's just...can you guys try to be friends?" Nero gave her an odd look.

"Ruby, you do know that she's the one who has been bringing you down at every opportunity she can? And you want me to be friendly with her?"

"I know, I know. But you said it yourself; she has a point about it. It's just that...maybe she never had a friend before."

'Yeah, he abandoned her.' He thought bitterly.

"So next time you talked to her, try to be nice to her okay?" She pleaded, with her cute eyes staring at Nero.

'Oh damn, not the eyes, not the eyes.' He thought as his will slowly crumbled.' Shit, I can't say no to her can I?' He sighed in defeat.

"You're too forgiving, you know that?" He said, only getting a grin from her. "Okay, I'll try. No promises though."

"That's all I asked for."

"Yeah, yeah lets go to our dorms, and Ruby..." he blushed before continuing, "Can you...let go of me?"

She was confused at his words before realising that, she was still hugging him. Embarrassed, she let out an 'eep' before letting go of him, apologising profusely with her face having the same shade as her hood.

* * *

(With Weiss)

The white-haired girl was walking through the hallway, on her way back to her dorm, but her mind was elsewhere. She was still taking in the words left by Professor Port just now.

 **(Flashback)**

 _Weiss was walking, her mood foul after her argument with Ruby._

 _'What was Ozpin thinking when he elected her?' She thought. 'Doesn't matter. After this, I'll have her sent off the school and take my rightful place as the leader.'_

 _She then came across Port at the balcony alone. Thinking on getting advice from a Huntsman, she approached the elderly man._

 _"Professor Port." She greeted. The man turned around and greeted her back._

 _"Ah, Miss Schnee. What can I do for you?" He asked cheerfully._

 _"Ummm, I enjoyed you lecture." She said shyly._

 _"Of course you do. You have the blood of a true Huntress in you." He stated as if it was obvious._

 _"You think so?" She asked with a smile._

 _"Most surely!" He then noticed a frown on the girl's face and the way she kept staring at the ground. "Something's troubling you."_

 _The girl was surprised but gave out a reply._

 _"Yes sir..."_

 _The immediately raised his arms. "Come child; confess your strife to me." He preached like a priest in a confessional._

 _"Well..." she said hesitantly." I-I think I should have been the leader of Team RWBY!"_

 _Port was silent for a moment before replying. "That's preposterous."_

 _Weiss was shocked. She then exclaimed angrily, "Excuse me?"_

 _"I've trusted Professor Ozpin for years and the man has never led me astray."_

 _"So you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?" She asked in disbelief._

 _"With all due respect, that exceptional skill is only matched by your poor attitude." He stated bluntly._

 _"How dare you!" She cried out, fuming at this man, who just a few moments ago were singing praises on her. But it only served to cement his points._

 _"My points exactly." He affirmed. "I see in front of me a girl who for her whole life has gotten everything she wanted."_

 _"That is not even remotely true." She denied wholeheartedly, but under the gaze of her teacher, she reluctantly relents. "Well, not entirely true."_

 _Professor Port then continued, "So the outcome did not fall in your favor. Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" Weiss finally calm down and looked at him again."So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."_

 _Her expression was deep in thought as the professor's word of wisdom sank in._

 **(Flashback ends)**

She knew that Professor Port was right, but she still need more answers before she is satisfied.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), her answers came in straight onto her face.

"Ow!" She cried out, as she collided with an object (or person) and fell to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She cried out before looking up to see-

"Nero?"

It was Nero, clad in his battle outfit but without his sword, staring at her.

"Hey." He greeted in a monotone.

"...Hi." She greeted back.

"What're you doing around this time? Ain't it past your bedtime?" He asked mockingly.

She growled at his tone but replied back. "I was just having some fresh air." She then turned his question back to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm gonna train for a bit. What, surprised?" He replied.

"No, not really..." Weiss stated. And then the atmosphere turned awkward.

"Look, if you don't have anything to say, I'll just leave-" Nero tried to walk away before he heard a cry from the heiress.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" He asked.

"Ummm, I got a question..." The skunk haired guy rolled his eyes at her obvious statement.

"No shit, what is it?" He repeated himself. Weiss scowled at his attitude.

"You insufferable-" She cut herself off from insulting him. She then muttered out, "What do you think about Ruby?"

"...what? I can't hear you?" Truthfully, he knew her question, but he wanted her to speak it out loud.

"Do you think Ruby's a good leader?"

"Hmmmm, I don't know." Was his reply.

She had a surprised look on her face. "What do mean you don't know?!"

He gave her a glare before answering back.

"Exactly what I meant. I don't know." He sighed at the heiress's confused look and elaborated. "Look, princess. How many days has it been since the team has been formed?"

"...One."

"Exactly. One day. Not enough of a time for anyone let alone you to make a complete judgment on someone's ability."

"What do you-" She tried to ask but was cut off by Nero.

"Cut the crap, Schnee." He sneered. "Everyone saw your stunt at class. And as a matter of fact, I've heard your argument with Ruby, in which by the way, ended up with her crying which was a bitch move on your part."

Weiss had the decency to look ashamed at her actions. She only meant to drive her point to Ruby, not hurt her feelings.

"But my point is, do you really have the right to judge anyone right now?" He asked her.

"But you saw for yourself. She was acting like a child!" She tried to defend herself.

"What do you expect?" He growled. "She was just 15 when she came here. She got moved forward two years, and you expect her to act like you within the span of three days!"

"Hey, I did not say that!"

"No, but you implied it. Look you want me to give you advice or what?" That immediately shut her up.

"So, what I'm trying to say is that, her being a kid is probably why Ozpin picked her as the leader." Weiss raised an eyebrow at his statement. "Being given a responsibility gives her the opportunity to mature. And that will help her in the future."

"But you know, she can't mature if you keep on forcing her like that." He stated as he stared at the heiress. "It's just gonna make her break."

And with that, he left the girl with her thoughts.

(Later on...)

By the time she returned to her dorm, it was past 10. When she entered the room, everyone was already asleep. Yang, spread out on her bed snoring and Blake was lying under her cover sleeping. When Weiss approached Ruby and took out her blanket, what she saw made her smile. Ruby was resting on top of her notes with books, pencils and even an empty coffee mug lying around, showing that she had been studying. She then shook the younger girl up, hoping to wake her up. A few second later, Ruby gained consciousness and flailed in surprise as she saw Weiss.

"Weiss! I-I was just studying, and then I fell asleep. I'm sorry..." She stuttered before the heiress covered her mouth with her hand and shushed her, telling her to lower her voice. Then, she took the coffee mug.

"How do you take your coffee?" She asked.

"I...I don't..." Ruby was confused at the question.

"Just answer me." The white haired girl said irritated.

"Uhhhh, cream and five sugars." Ruby replied quickly.

Weiss just sighed. "Don't move." She then ducked under her bed, and a few moments later came up with fresh coffee, offering it to Ruby. "Here"

"Uhhhh thanks Weiss." Said Ruby. The heiress just smiled before taking on an apologetic look.

"Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a great leader." The younger girl just smiled appreciatively. "Just know, I'll be the best teammate you ever have." She said as she returned a smile to Ruby. "Good luck studying."

She ducked under her bed, only to come out and pointed on one of her papers.

"That's wrong by the way." She ducked again. But she called out, this time near the door.

"Hey Ruby?"

"Yes Weiss?" She called back.

"...I've always wanted bunk beds as kids." She said before leaving the room once again. Ruby grinned at her progress and continued on her study.

* * *

(Location: Gym)

As she entered the Gym, Weiss heard sounds of objects hitting inside. As she looked further, she saw Nero performing katas on a practice dummy, his jacket taken off leaving him with his shirt. She approached the boy, who did not seem to be aware of her presence. Deciding to reveal herself, she called out to him.

"Nero!" He immediately paused and turned to see her looking down the ground.

"Oh, it's you." Nero stated as if it was obvious, and continued doing his katas.

"What do you need?" He asked.

"Oh, uh..." The heiress stumbled, trying to remember what she wanted to say. "Oh, I wanted to say...thanks."

"For what?" Nero asked.

"Just now." She answered. "Your advice really helped me"

Nero didn't say anything for a moment and continued punching the training dummy. After a while...

"It's not me."

"...Huh?"

"It's not me you should thank. It's Ruby."

"Ruby?" She asked, confused. What does she have to do with this?

"When I talked to her, I almost tried to go to you and slap you or something." He stated bluntly, and Weiss rolled her eyes. She should have expected. "But she talked me out of it."

Now, Weiss was honestly surprised. Ruby protected her from Nero's wrath?

"Why?"

"Hell if I know. Point is, even before you talked to me or anything, she already forgave you." Nero said before staring at her dead in the eyes. "You, the girl who for the last three days have done nothing but insulted her, belittled her and treated her like a child." His tone became increasingly aggressive as he continued his speech, and Weiss felt a pang of guilt.

'Have I really been mean to her this whole time?' She thought.

"She's too forgiving..." The heiress mumbled sadly. She heard Nero snorted and stared at him.

"That's exactly what I said to her." He said. She giggled at his words, before looking at him again.

"Nero, why are you practicing on martial arts?" She decided to ask.

"Anything wrong with it?" He questioned back.

Weiss shook her head. "No, it's just...you have your weapon already, so why-" She scowled when she saw Nero laughing.

"Is something funny?"

"No, it's just...do you really expect yourself to have your weapon at your side all the time?"

"Well, it would be stupid not to-" She tried to answer but was cut off by the Carbone heir.

"What if you were disarmed, like just now in class? What if your weapon was broken? How are you going to defend yourself?" He questioned in a stern tone. Weiss kept silent knowing that he made a good point. Can she really fight without her weapon? The answer is definitely no. As far as her training goes, she was never taught anything about hand-to-hand combat. Her instructor deemed it unnecessary for a Schnee to 'sully her hands' during combat.

"I know what you're thinking.'My semblance doesn't fit with any close combat fighting.' Well it doesn't matter, 'cause in a battle, anything goes. That's what Uncle Christos said."

"Aurea's father?" She asked.

"You remember him?" He raised an eyebrow.

The white-haired girl rolled her eyes at the not-so-subtle insult. "I feel insulted that you assumed my memory to be that bad." Nero actually chuckled hearing this.

"Yeah, but anyway. It's true that a person's semblance can help with their fighting style. I'm just lucky to get one that fits both."

"What is your semblance anyway?" Weiss asked with interest. Nero paused for a moment. Then, he raised his arm and as he closed his eyes and focused, she watched with awe as sparks of electricity ran through his arm, before a glowing blue ball of electricity appeared. She felt a sense of tingling as the electricity sparked out randomly at all direction.

"Electrokinesis..." She breathed out.

"I can conjure electricity in my body and releases it to my surrounding, effectively making me a living battery." The skunk-haired boy explained. "And with more training, I can boost my attributes with it, though it can backfire on me. My dad even said that those who mastered this semblance can conjure up thunderstorms and summon bolts of lightning."

Weiss was still shocked **(See what I did there?)** at his explanation. His semblance is a very powerful one once it was mastered. Not even her Glyphs could control weather to such degree. Soon after that, the gym became silent again, the atmosphere turning awkward. Both actually had something to ask, but was afraid to speak up in fear of angering the other. Eventually, Weiss broke the silence.

"Nero..." she started off as the boy stared at her."Do...do you think we could go back like how we used to be?"

Nero's expression turned grim. He knew what she meant. Back to how they used to be. Back when they were friends. He remained silent for quite a while, and Weiss took that as a no. She started to walk away, before-

"I don't know." He finally voiced out.

"Huh?" She said.

"...I'll never forget what happened in the past, and I don't think that I'll ever forgive what your family did..." He said coldly. She understood his point. Even she would find it hard to forgive her family for what happened.

"But..." Weiss stared at him as he spoke. "Ruby and Aurea told me to be nicer to you. So for their sake...I'll be nice. No more insults. No more fights or anything. We'll see how that goes afterwards."

Weiss gave out a sigh of relief and smiled. She may not want to admit it, but she wanted this for a while.

"Sure, I'll accept your condition." The heiress offered him a handshake. He rolled his eyes but smiled and shook her hands, sealing their deal off.

"So, you mind if we spar?" She challenged.

"Sure, if you don't mind getting a few scars." Nero taunted.

"I'll have you know that I'm more resilient than I look." She retorted.

Nero grabbed his broadsword and walked away from her before the two fell into their respective fighting stances. And within the count of three, the sounds of blades clashing together echoed through the night.

* * *

 **Author's Note: And I'm done. Whew that looked nice to me. Better than last one, to be honest. Anyway, I'm sure you guys are curious. Why I made these OCs and everything. Well, these characters are actually somewhat based off me and my fellow RWBY lover friends (the one I talked 'bout earlier) and I'll say, while some of the personality doesn't really fit, their quite a good impression on how my friends are (or wants to be). E.g. Nero was based on me. Introverted and all, but once I'm with my friends, I can be quite crazy. Like real crazy. That and I have a bad temper. But, to be honest I actually kinda hate Nero, but that's like saying I hate myself but eh I'm rambling. Anyway, please give a review on this chapter, 'cause I seriously need a feedback or something. Positive comments, constructive criticism is fine as long as it's not some shitty hate comments or anything irrelevant. Alright, stay tuned for the next chapter, something completely original from me. And have fun with CHAPTER 1 OF VOLUME 4!**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	4. Ch 4 School Days-Fists Fights

**Author Notes: Hello People! King of Blacks here, back with another fresh chapter. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Hey KOB, when did you update so fast?' Well, you can thank Volume 4 of RWBY for that. Just the excitement of waiting for the episode was enough of a moodmaker for me to write another chapter, so yeah. Say your thanks to Rooster Teeth for their wonderful creation that is RWBY. Anyway without further ado, let's start this chaper off.**

 **Disclaimer: I know. It's not mine. It's Rooster Teeth's property and Monty Oum's, rest his soul. But the OCs are mine. So ask me if you want to use it.**

Our Purpose

Chapter 4: School Days- Fist Fights

(Location: Cafeteria)

The cafeteria was packed with students of all years during lunch time. After all, it is a time for them to relax after their morning lessons before moving to the afternoon periods. And at one particular table, sat Team NARA, JNPR and RWBY as they socialise with each other (or at least try to for some of them).

"Ahhhh, lunch time. My favorite period." Rouge said happily. His fellow teammates rolled their eyes.

"I think it's everyone's favourite period Rouge." Aurea retorted. Meanwhile with Team RWBY, Yang and Weiss was fussing over Ruby, who refused to eat her veggies while Blake silently ate her meal, watching over her team.

"Ruby, I think its time for you to eat your veggies." Yang lectured.

"Yang's right, I will not have my partner sick because she refused to eat the proper nutritions." Weiss added.

"Blegh, No! Veggies are disgusting. Don't wanna eat them." Ruby refused with a pout. The other two teams laughed at their interaction.

"Ruby, as much as I want to see you pouting," Nero teased, getting a blush out of her. "I think you should eat it." Ruby stared at him, puffing her cheeks out before huffing childishly.

"Why should I eat them? They're not sweet at all." The red-hooded girl asked.

"Well, for starters they help you grow up. You do want to grow up right?" He answered with a teasing tone

"I hate you guys." She mumbled out, getting chuckles and giggles from everyone.

"Look at the bright side, in two or three years you'll probably have a body like Yang." Rouge joked, which made Ruby and Nero somehow blush.

'Ruby looking like Yang? Damn that is a nice image in every way NO, NO, NO goddamit.' He thought with a blush as he imagined Ruby with Yang's body.

"Azur..." Aurea suddenly called out to the Faunus in a stern tone.

"Hmm?" He stared at her innocently (for a wolf).

"Why aren't you eating your veggies?" She chided, placing her hands on her hip. For some reason, Azur's face lit up.

"That's what these green things are?" Getting an odd look from the rest. "What?"

"You don't know about vegetables?" Jaune asked flabbergasted.

"Nope." The wolf Faunus answered.

"..."

"..."

"How the hell did you get this big then?" Rouge all but shouted.

"Meat. Lots of meat." He said simply. "And some bones if I'm feeling up to it."

"..."

Aurea was rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"How is this guy enigmatic at all?" She asked rhetorically.

"See! You don't need to eat veggies to grow up." Ruby used this to give out a rebuttal.

"Oh, no you don't! You are going to eat it, and you're going to like it." Weiss growled back.

"Yes mum." Ruby mumbled glumly as she ate her veggies. Nero patted her back in comfort.

"Anyway, you guys excited for Sparring Class or what?" Nora said excitedly.

"Of course. It'll be the time when I show you people my exceptional skill." The Schnee heiress boasted, getting a snort from Nero.

"Yeah, right princess. Dream on 'cause it'll be my name on top of the list." He taunted.

"Is that a challenge I hear Nero? She asked in a mocking tone.

"Damn right I did." He replied with a grin.

"Wowowowowow, back up there." Rouge interrupted. "Aren't you guys sworn enemies or something?"

"Well, in case you didn't know. Me and Weiss here made an agreement to be nicer to each other." He answered Rouge's (and everyone's) question. Ruby and Aurea gave a sincere smile. At least it wouldn't be awkward with the two anymore.

"It's nice to see you two getting along." Pyrrha joined in the conversation. "Oh, and by the way. The two of you are mistaken." The two heirs stared at her in confusion, as she gave a smirk. "I will be the one getting the highest ranked." To other people, it might seem like she was boasting (although she could probably back it up) but they knew it was merely a jest, and they all laughed at Pyrrha's attempt for humor.

* * *

(Location: Amphitheater)

The amphitheater was filled with first year students for their first Sparring Class. And down the sparring arena was Glynda Goodwitch, their instructor.

"I'm sure all of you recognise me, but for the sake of formality, I shall introduce myself." She said in an even tone. "I am Glynda Goodwitch, and I will be your instructor for Sparring in the next four years. In this class, you will be chosen randomly, or by volunteer, spar in this arena under the tournament rules with an opponent you choose or picked under random selection."

She gazed upon her students sternly before continuing her speech. "The purpose for this is to train your combat skills to prepare yourself for your career as a Huntsman. And as you all know, the Vytal Festival this year will be hosted by Vale, so should any of your team be chosen to compete, I would expect nothing less than a victory, is that understood?" She stated firmly, getting excited looks from the students, and some nervous ones.

"So without further ado, I shall call in the first two combatants for today." She looked ather scroll, skimming through the list of students. "Will Yang Xiao Long and Azur Castillo please proceed to the arena?"

The two aforementioned name stared at one another before Yang gave an excited grin.

"Looks like we're up, Wolfie." The blonde joked.

"Enough talk." He replied, seemingly ignoring the jab. "Let's see if you can prove to be a challenge." Yang just gave a smirk, showing that she accepted his challenge.

Meanwhile, the others were shocked by the selection.

"Damn, Azur and Yang?" Jaune said. "That's gonna be scary."

"You know what?" Nero thought out as a look of realisation appeared on his face. "Aren't the two of them close combat fighters?"

The rest eventually realised his point. Azur and Yang were hand-to-hand specialists and to make them fight one another, they would which one is the better of the two.

"Woah man, this is gonna be interesting." Rouge said with a grin.

"I agree. Who do you think is gonna win?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss scoffed and answered. "It's obviously Yang. I mean, no offence to Azur, but he is definitely out of her league." Though hidden, her tone had a bit of disgust seemingly directed to Azur.

Blake, ever so calm and collected spoke up. "I don't think it's wise to judge the battle without analyzing the two of them first."

"Yeah Weiss, its not 'Weiss' to do that." Rouge added in, getting groans from the others and a scowl from Weiss.

"Blake's right though." Nora supported. "We've never seen the two of them fight."

Nero had a thoughtful, trying to remember his team discussion of their fighting style before and from the battle during initiation.

"Well, from what I know, Azur's fighting style is more of utilising strength than speed, but he still can contend with others on it." Nero explained. "And he also has a good defense and a perfect form with it. As for his Semblance." He just gave a smirk, not revealing it to the rest. Ruby had a thoughtful look, before trying to explain on Yang's fighting style.

"Well, Yang's more of a brawler actually, and she focuses more on her punches." The leader of Team RWBY said. "But she's actually quite fast. Not as fast as me though." She had a smug face when she said it.

"And her semblance?" Aurea asked.

"You'll find out." Ruby replied with a giggle, making Aurea huff and turn away.

"Well, anyway. We'll find out who will win after this." Ren said sagely getting nods of agreement from everyone.

(Down at the arena...)

"The rules are simple." Professor Goodwitch explained. "The spar will will end once a combatant's Aura reaches critical level. If, under any circumstances I'm calling the match off, both combatants must comply or they will be punished severely. Is that understood?" She stared at the Yang and Azur who stood a distance from each other, staring at each other. Yang was grinning excitedly while Azur had a serious look on his face.

"I hope you can handle me Wolfie." Yang teased while she went into a boxing stance.

"Well, I make no promises on you getting out of this without injuries." Azur retorted back, settling into his own stance.

"Are both combatants ready?" The professor asked, getting nods of confirmation from the two. As she raised her arm, in a quick motion, she dropped it. "Begin!"

 ***BOOM***

Right after Glynda began the match, the two fighters immediately threw their first punch, which collided together, creating a booming shockwave around the arena. Yang and Azur leaped backwards before dashing towards their opponent and performed a series of punches, kicks with neither of them successfully hitting.

"You're not that bad, you know that?" Yang said between punches.

"I could say the same." Azur complimented. Azur tried for an uppercut but was blocked by Yang and countered with a right hook. Thanks to his reflexes, he managed to avoid the hit and flipped backwards to create a gap between them. He then studied his opponent from afar.

'From what I can see just now, she seems to favor punches over kicks, so if I overwhelm her with it, I can probably catch her off guard and deal some damage.' The wolf Faunus analyzed. With a plan in mind, he dashed towards Yang who was readying herself, before stopping just right in front of her, performing a forward kick which almost caught her off guard but managed to block successfully.

From there, Azur keep throwing her an onslaught of kicks, which eventually overwhelmed her as she blocked yet another forward kick, which he immediately followed with a backheel from the left side. Unable to keep up with the successive moves, Yang was hit for the first time and was thrown away from the force of the kick.

At the sidelines, Nero cheered happily for his partner. "Wahoo! Go Azur!"

"What?!" Weiss cried out in shock. She certainly did not expect the Faunus to get the first blood. Meanwhile, Team JNPR was at awe with the fight so far.

"So cooool..." Jaune breathed out with awe.

'Is this how real Huntsman fight?' He thought.

"Ha! Take that princess! Azur is winning this hands down." The heir taunted the heiress.

"Grrrrr...Just you wait. It's not over yet." Said heiress growled.

"She's right," Blake interrupted. "It's not over yet. In fact, it's only just begun." She stares down the arena as she said it.

(With Yang and Azur)

"What? Is that all you got?" Azur taunted the blonde who was lying down. Yang stood back up, wiping dust from her face, and gave him a grin.

"Alright, Wolfie. Playtime's over." She challenged him, who only gave her a 'come at me' motion.

Yang fired several shots from her shotgun gauntlets, Ember Celica, which Azur easily dodged, before she sprinted off, using her weapon to boost her speed and threw a devastating haymaker to a surprised Azur, and was thrown all the way across the arena.

"Holy shit!" Rouge cried out as everyone watching the match flinched at the hit. "That's gotta hurt."

"Woo! Go Yang! Kick his butt!" Ruby all but shouted for her sister. Weiss had a smug look at her face.

"Not so confident now, are we?" She said with a smug tone.

"You wish, princess." Nero growled at the heiress before cheering back. "Get up Azur! Take her down!"

Aurea sighed as she stared at the people next to her and sighed tiredly.

"Honestly, they're acting like kids." She mumbled. Ren, who was sitting next to her tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it." He said.

"Right. You have to deal with Nora, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, and she's much more worse than the two of them." He answered.

"Ren! When can I fight, Ren?" Said girl whined childishly.

"You'll get your chance Nora." Ren assured her.

Down the arena, Azur stood up, wiping his face of dust, still feeling the pain from the blonde's punch.

"Awww, is the wittle wolf hurt? Do I need to kiss it to make it better?" Yang cooed sarcastically. Azur just stared silently, before giving out a smirk. She was not as bad as he thought. The fact that she made him feel the adrenaline coursing through his body is enough.

"Not a lot of people made me go this far. You should feel honored." He said cryptically, making Yang raised an eyebrow in confusion. Azur closed his eyes and focused his energy inside. Soon, some sort of transformation took place throughout his body. Black furs began to grow all over his body, with his face morphing into something like a wolf. His teeth sharpened to resembling fangs and his claws retracted as his body grew by a foot. Once the transformation was completed, Azur, now resembling a Beowolf, gave a loud howl before flashy a malicious grin.

"You want a wolf?!" He cackled. "I'll give you a wolf!"

All of the students were totally shocked at Azur's transformation. And who wouldn't? He transformed into a FREAKING BEOWOLF!

"...What was that?" Pyrrha managed to spoke out. Team NARA knew about this transformation actually, but seeing is different from knowing. It took them a few seconds before Nero answered Pyrrha's question.

"That...was his Semblance." He replied, and instantly everyone turned their heads to him, obviously expecting an explanation.

"What kind of Semblance involves transforming into something like that?" Weiss asked in a bewildered tone.

"It's quite a rare one, but a shapeshifting Semblance does exist, which usually occurs with Faunus." Aurea explained. "And from what Azur told us, his Semblance is a hereditary one like your Glyphs."

"So, what does it do?" Blake questioned. "I mean, it couldn't be just turning into a Beowolf right?"

"And you're right." The heir confirmed. "Apparently, it grants him all around increased attributes. So, he's now faster, tougher, and stronger. Not to mention, he gets more animalistic with his fangs and claws."

"Well, he does seem a little bit different in personality." Ruby remarked.

"Well, that's probably a side effect or something." Rouge said sheepishly before turning his attention back to the fight. "Well, let's hope he can finish this before she uses her semblance."

"You know her Semblance Rouge?" Nero asked surprised.

Rouge rolled his eyes at the question. "Duh, I'm friends with her before any of you. Of course I know her semblance."

"Where didcha meet her anyway? You didn't attend Signal as far as I remembered." Nero asked.

"It's a long story." The red head replied offhandedly, not really wanting to delve into his past.

Meanwhile, Yang was truly surprised by this...thing Azur pulled off. But she just gave out a grin, knowing how fun things are going to be.

"So, you basically turn to a real wolf now? Big deal." She mocked the Faunus, who returned it with a toothy grin. Something unexpected from the usually calm Faunus.

"Well, you'll be surprised by what I got blondie." He retorted, before rearing his fist back and lunged towards his prey, leaving cracks on the spot he was standing on, a testament of his new powers. He immediately grabbed the unsuspecting Yang at the face and threw her across the arena effortlessly. Before Yang could even recover, Azur was already above the blonde slamming her with devastating heel drop which made the surroundings covered in dusts, blocking the view for the spectators.

When the dust settled down, it revealed Yang lying down on a crater created by Azur and the cackling Faunus.

"Hahahahaha! That'll teach you blondie; 'You mess with a wolf, you get the fangs.'"He said excitedly and proceeded to walk away. All of a sudden, a massive surge of Aura was felt across the amphitheater. Azur turned around to see Yang, whose eyes turned red and filled with rage. The murderous look on her face as she stared at her opponent was enough to send the adrenaline pumping back around his body.

"So, this is your Semblance? Glowy red eyes? I'm not impressed." The mad werewolf mocked. Yang gritted her teeth and slammed both of her fists together, creating yet another shockwave, and dashed towards Azur, hellbent on revenge.

The people spectating, on the other hand was astounded except for Ruby and Rouge.

"What just happened?" Aurea asked surprised.

"That was her semblance." Ruby answered with a grin. "Everytime she gets hit, she can absorb it and use it to strengthen herself."

"So, she's basically like a berserker." Ren confirmed.

"Something like that." Rouge shrugged.

(With Azur)

'Okay this is getting too much.' He thought grimly as he was parrying and dodging punches and kicks from the enraged blonde in front of him. He did not expect such a boost of power from a Semblance. And it made him grew excited.

'Finally. A worthy opponent.' He thought with a grin as he ducked from a punch by Yang. Having had enough of going defensive, he grabbed Yang's arm and countered her with his own. From there, the two just relentlessly blasted the other with devastating combos, neither of them giving up at this point. That was until Azur used his claws in an attempt to slash her, only to cut her hair.

Rouge and Ruby immediately paled at the sight, knowing what was gonna happen.

"Oh, no..." Ruby groaned.

"Um, what's wrong Ruby?" Nero asked.

"Uhhh, how should I say this?" Ruby replied hesitantly, before giving out a sigh. "Yang...is kinda obsessed with her hair."

"..." The looks on everyone's face was hilarious as they saw Azur with a few strands of hair from Yang.

"And Azur took out a few strands." Aurea deadpanned.

"Well, in the words of a wise old man." Rouge finished. "'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'"

(Back at the arena)

As Yang saw the strands of her precious hair on Azur's hand, an intense rage began pulsing out of her.

No one, and I mean no one messes with Yang's hair and live.

She rushed towards Azur who was once again backed into a corner defending against Yang's fiery onslaught that only increased in intensity. Not knowing where she got this new boost in power, and not wanting to lose, he fought back with his own series of attacks.

The match went on until with a whip from her riding crop,Glynda separated the two rampaging pairs with her Semblance, Telekinesis.

"That's enough, both of you." She said sternly. "As much as I would like to see you two blasting each other's face off, I don't believe that this arena could handle anymore damage." Azur and Yang was confused until they looked around them and see the arena filled with cracks and small craters all around. Yang took a deep breath and calmed herself down, her red eyes returning to lilac, before giving a sheepish grin. Likewise, Azur turned off his transformation, and stared apologetically at the professor.

"Sorry teach."

"Apologies for the damages professor."

Professor Goodwitch just sighed and looked at her scroll. "Well, based on the remaining Aura left, Azur Castillo wins the match." The two stared at the Aura bar above and indeed, although Azur's Aura was on the lower half, almost reaching red, it was still more than Yang, who was just a few points from going critical.

"Well, looks like you win Wolfie." The blonde raised her arms up in surrender.

"Don't sell yourself short, Yang." Azur said with a rare smile. "You've pushed me into a corner more than a few times. Not a lot of people has forced me to use my Semblance. I'd like to have a rematch with you one day." He then offered her a handshake.

"Hey, that's my line." Yang retorted with a smile, showing that she was not angry. She took his hands and pulled him as she whispered sweetly into his ear.

"You mess with my hair again, I'll cut your balls off."

The Faunus felt shiver down his spine as she returned her handshake. Looks like he made a deal with the devil.

Glynda then gave a few advice based off her observations during the fight.

"Miss Xiao Long, your stances were excellent and you placed your strikes well. However, I must advice you to control your temper during battle and to actually take your time to study your opponent as it can lead to your downfall. Same goes for you, Mister Castillo. While you did perform some analysis which gave you the upper hand, as soon as you activated your Semblance, you simply charged recklessly without any solid plan." Both Yang and Azur nodded. They knew their own limitations and with this, and they hoped to fix it.

As the combatants returned to their seats, they were greeted by their respective teams.

"Wooo! Azur, that was intense dude!" Nero congratulated with a grin.

"Yeah man! Never expected you to pull off that big bad wolf act with your Semblance." Rouge joked as he patted the Faunus's back.

"That was a great match Azur." Aurea added with a smile, before taking on a frown. "Although the two of you should have held back a little bit rather than destroying the arena."

Yang just waved her hand offhandedly. "Ah, chill out Aurea. It's not that bad."

"Well, I guess Nero could probably do it worse, so it's fine." She sighed, ignoring Nero's cry of 'Hey'.

"Well, I have to say. You guys performed admirably." Blake said.

"Blake's right! You guys were awesome just now!" Ruby bounced excitedly.

"I expected nothing less from my own teammate." Weiss huffed proudly, before putting a smile on her face.

"Now, if all of you are finished celebrating." Glynda interrupted with a glare, getting nervous looks from them. "Class is still in session and I would like to continue the lesson." When the room became silent, she continued, "Very well, for the next one. Please proceed to the arena..."

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

Class was officially over and all the students has returned to their respective dorm room. Ruby was humming happily as she walked through the hallway, searching for a certain heir. She stumbled upon Rouge who was relaxing at the lounge while Aurea was cooking a meal. She figured they must have known where Nero was.

"Hi Rouge! Hi Aurea!" She greeted cheerfully. The two turned and greeted her back.

"Sup, Ruby."

"Hey, Ruby."

"Hey, do you guys know where Nero is right now?" The red haired girl asked.

Rouge had a thoughtful look on his face before answering. "I'm pretty sure he's in our room. Why?"

"Ummm, I wanted to ask him about something." Ruby said shyly.

Aurea saw Ruby's expression, and decided to tease her.

"So, you want to ask him out or something?" She said in a teasing tone.

The look on Ruby's face was priceless as she turned fifty shades of red, gaping like a fish.

"Uh, um, I, it's not, ahh.." The younger girl stammered. The two members of Team NARA couldn't handle it anymore and laughed, as Ruby huffed and pouted at their treatment of her.

"You guys are mean..." She mumbled.

"Oh Ruby, we're just teasing you. Don't get so angry or anything." Rouge said still laughing.

"Hmmph, I'll just leave you guys." She huffed and walked away from the lounge, leaving the laughing pair. After their laughter died down, Aurea turned to Rouge for a question.

"By the way Rouge, wasn't Nero having-" She was about to continue when she saw the red head with an evil grin on his face. Few moments later, a look of realisation spread across her face before turning into a grin like Rouge.

"Oooh, Rouge. You are one sneaky devil." She said.

"Well, what can I say? I like to make people smile." He replied the grin still plastered on his face.

Meanwhile, Ruby walked towards Team NARA's dorm room, unaware of the plan hatched by the team prankster. As she approaches the door, she realised it wasn't locked, and immediately barged in.

"Hey, Nero. Whatchu dooo-" She said before realising the sight in front of her.

Nero was wearing a towel, while using a smaller towel to rinse his hair. His chiseled body was still wet from the shower, but she can tell that he is definitely ripped. His biceps were bulging out, though not too much, and his chests were very toned. And don't even get her started on his six pecs. In the words of Yang, Nero is a 'hot stud'.

The two just stared at each other before quickly realising their situation. Ruby was staring at Nero. A half-naked Nero.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Ruby let out an embarrassed scream and closed the door, her face even redder than Pyrrha's hair, and she could feel steams coming out from her ears.

'I just saw Nero half-naked.' She thought flustered, before hiding her face on her hands, deeply embarrassed by now. Yang who heard her scream, immediately rushed out to her sister.

"Ruby?! What's wrong?! What happened?!" Yang rambled on, going to her overprotective sister mode.

"I, uh, Nero..he, ah KYA!" She tried to speak but her embarrassment was just too much. Yang, misunderstanding the situation, broke down the door in rage.

"NERO!"

Said boy was sitting on his bed, hiding his face with his hands, and immediately looked up to see a murderous Yang and immediately paled.

"Yang! What are you-" He was cut off by the blonde who grabbed his neck and lifted him up.

"I knew it! You're just a pig like the rest aren't you?" She said in an angry tone.

"What are you talking about?!" He tried to dissuade her, but unfortunately she was beyond reasons now.

"What else?! You forced yourself on Ruby, didn't you?!" She shouted.

"WHAT?! I didn't do that!"

"Don't lie to me! How else would you explain yourself half-naked and Ruby who looked traumatised, huh?!" Yang looked about ready to kill him.

"Wait, Yang! I can explain-"

"No more excuses, skunkface. Say goodbye to your man pride." Just before she removed the heir's genitals, a shout interrupted them.

"STOOOP!" The executioner and would-be victim turned to see Rouge.

"Rouge, what do you want?" Yang asked with narrowed eyes, upset that her victim is still not lying on the ground.

"Rouge! Please help me here! She's about to rip my dick off." Nero pleaded with anime tears running down his eyes. The red head just sighed tiredly. He seriously did not expect this to happen.

"Yang, before you go and remove my leader's measly genitals," He said, ignoring Nero's protest, "I think you should know that this is all a big misunderstanding.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Look, Ruby asked me where Nero was. I told her he's in our room. She opened the door. Nero just came out from the shower. See how this goes?" He explained.

Yang had a look of realisation and immediately calmed down, and released Nero from her grip.

"Sorry, Nero. I kinda jumped the gun just now." She apologised sheepishly.

"Damn right you did." He mumbled.

"Hey, I didn't know it was Ruby who went inside." She tried to defend herself. "Besides, you weren't exactly helping with your half-naked state.

"Hey, I didn't even know Ruby was coming in." The skunk-hair said.

"Then why didn't you lock the door?" She asked in outrage.

"'Cause I specifically told my team to lock the door and not let anyone inside 'till I'm done." He explained, making everyone ther turned their heads towards Rouge who was taking a step backwards nervously.

"Uhh, guys. I can explain.." Rouge said nervously, but Yang's knuckle cracking said otherwise.

"So, you're the one who tried to take my sister's innocence eh?" Yang grinned sadistically. "Now let's see if you can piss from your mouth."

Taking that as his cue to leave, the guilty redhead immediately ran off, with the angry blonde following suit.

"HEY, GET BACK HERE CHEVALIER! TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!"

"OH HELL NO! I STILL WANT TO HAVE KIDS YOU KNOW!"

Ruby and Nero stared at each other, before laughing hysterically.

"That'll teach that guy a lesson." Nero said in between laughs.

"Heheheh, yeah.." Ruby said, wiping tears from her eyes. Her face then became red again and turned her face away. "Nero..."

"Hmmm.." He turned to Ruby who looked embarrassed.

"Can you...put on some clothes?" She mumbled. He looked down and realised that he was still wearing just a towel.

"Oh..." He also turned his gaze away, his face also warming up.

"...Can you leave for a while?" He asked. Ruby just let out an 'eep' and walked out of the room, closing the door.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory Lounge)

It was night time, so a lot of students already retreated to their room, save for a few. Like Ruby and Nero here. The two were dressed in their night wear Ruby was sitting on the couch with the tables filled with her notes, and Nero was flipping some pancakes (Nora was already asleep so he's safe for now) for a night snack.

"I never knew you cook." Ruby said.

Nero blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, my mom made me learn how to cook, and I guess I just grew to like it."

"Does Aurea cook?" She asked.

"Well, yeah sometimes. But not as good as me. And don't even get me started on my twin sister Noir. She actually burned water once." Nero joked which got a giggle from the red head.

"Don't be so mean." Ruby said between giggles.

"So what exactly do you need from me?" The heir said as he laid down a plate filled with three stacks of pancakes for Ruby.

"Thanks. And I got something to ask." She said shyly.

"What is it?" The tall teen asked as he sat next to Ruby.

"You remember when we talked a couple of days ago?"

"Which one?" He raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"You know...the one when Weiss was mad at me." She answered timidly.

A scowl appeared on his face. "Ruby." Nero called out sternly. "You know you can talk to me about anything. Is Weiss picking on you again?"

Ruby quickly flailed her arms. "No, no, no. She's not the problem. She's actually being nice to me. It's just..." She trailed off.

"Just what?"

"It's just...can you help me with my studies?" She asked meekly, expecting him to say no. He was quiet for a few moments before releasing a laugh.

"Uhhhhh, what?" She asked confused.

When Nero calmed himself down, he finally answered her.

"Oh Ruby, this is what you were scared about?" The heir said, a smile on his face. "You do know that I can't say no to you, right?" Ruby's face immediately lit up.

"Really? You'll help me?" She asked, her eyes glittering full of hope.

"Yes, Ruby. I will." He answered sincerely before getting tackled by a grateful Ruby.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Ruby cried out. Nero just smiled, his heart fluttering from the hug, and whispered out a 'No problem.'

'He's always so nice to me.' She thought dreamily. When they broke out of the hug, both of them missing the warm feeling the felt before.

"Anyway, I gotta ask." He said. "Why me though?"

Now, it was Ruby's turn to look sheepish.

"Well, I guess it's 'cause you're the closest friend I have here." She said, a blush on her face. "And asking the others would look weird."

"Well, I'm flattered that you think of me that way." The boy said, a genuine smile on his face, making Ruby feel the butterflies in her stomach. He then had a grin on her face. "Well, then. I think we should eat our pancakes before we start our study session. Besides, we wouldn't want Nora to finish it off, do we?" He ended with a wink, which made her laugh, something he always loved to hear from her.

'Wait, why am I thinking about this?" He thought.

It took them an hour for their study session to end. As they approached their dorm rooms, Ruby turned to her best friend (crush?).

"Nero, thanks for helping me." Ruby said.

"It's okay Ruby. Even if you hadn't asked, I still would've helped." He waved it off, showing a grin which made her flustered.

A shy smile formed on her face. "But still, thanks Nero. I wouldn't have gotten this far without your help." She went towards and tiptoed to reach his face before planting a kiss on his cheeks.

"Ummm, goodnight Nero." The red headed girl said meekly, before entering her room, leaving a speechless and blushing heir behind.

* * *

(With Ruby)

'Eeep! I kissed him. I kissed Nero. Well, it was on the cheek, but still. I kissed him.' Ruby thought as her cheeks warmed up for the umpteenth time today. Why did she do it? Nero was just her friend, right? So why did she kiss her? Questions were asked in her mind as memories of the display of affection.

Suddenly Yang appeared in front of her with a curious look. "Hey sis, what's wrong with you?" She asked leaning to her face.

"Kya!" She let out a squeak, surprised by her sister's sudden appearance. "What are you doing Yang?"

"We were just waiting for you." She explained, pointing towards Weiss who had her hands on her hips and Blake, sitting on her bed reading her book.

"What took you so long?" The heiress demanded.

"I-I was just studying...with Nero." She replied, lowering down the last part by a few octaves. Unfortunately, Yang heard it and immediately had a teasing grin.

"Oooh, was it a date?" She said teasingly.

"What?! No!" She cries out indignantly. "I was just out for a snack. He was there, so he made me some pancakes. Then I asked him to help me with my studies since I was about to ask him anyway. Then he helped me study and then we went back. That's all." She rambled.

"He can cook? Ooh you got a keeper right there Ruby." Apparently, that was all her sister caught on.

"Yang, I don't like him like that." The younger girl whined. Her sister can be a real pain in the butt sometimes.

This time, Weiss scoffed. "Oh please, Ruby. Everyone can see that the two of you like each other." Even Blake gave a nod in agreement, her eyes still fixated on the book.

"No, guys. He's just my best friend. Well, I mean I did kiss him just now but.." She immediately gasped in horror as she realised her slip up. But it was too late as Yang gave out a fangirlish squeal.

"Ohmigod Ruby. Details now. How was it? Who kissed first? Was it you? Was it him? Did he force it on you? 'Cause I'll beat him up if he does." Yang fires off her questions before Ruby cut her off.

"Yang, stop!" She screamed, stopping Yang from her intense questioning. "It's nothing like that. It's just something I did out of impulse. We were outside our rooms, and I thanked him then I just gave him a peck on the cheeks. That's all. We're just friends." She explained.

It was at this time that Blake chose to interfere.

"Guys, I think we should lay off from Ruby. She's had a tiring night." She voiced out before turning to Ruby. "And Ruby, I suggest you think clearly on your feelings with Nero."

"What? But we're just friends, that's all." Ruby denied, although she had a blush on her cheeks proving otherwise. Blake just rolled her eyes.

"You may think you've fooled yourself or Nero. But you can't fool us. Your feelings are way beyond that of best friends. But let me ask you this: Don't you think that it's going a little too fast?" Blake lectured.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"Let's look at it this way. Ruby and Nero have only been friends for almost a week. Yet, their relationship is advancing way faster than it is possible. Don't you think?" The black-haired teen explained.

Yang nodded her head agreeing with the enigmatic girl. "Blake's right. It might seem right, but their relationship is moving too fast." Even Weiss finally saw Blake's point. Ruby on the other hand...

"So, you want me to think about this because..." She said unsure.

"So you can evaluate your feelings. I'm pretty sure you're confused right now, with how fast it happened. So I want you to decide what your feeling is."

"But you said you know-" Ruby tried to say, but Blake interrupted her.

"I know what I said. We know your feeling for him. But what I want is for you to understand what you're feeling with him. So you can decide on how to approach it. And whatever decisions you make, we'll always be supporting you." Blake said with a gentle smile.

Yang wrapped her arms around the younger girl's shoulders. "She's right. We'll always be behind you sis."

"Well, I did promise to be the best teammate for you, so staying by your side would be the obvious option." Weiss added in her own haughty tone, though she had a smile adorning her face.

Tear started falling from her eyes after her friends' heartwarming talk. She felt really lucky to be a part of this team.

"Thanks guys." Was all she could speak out as she wiped her tears away.

* * *

(Meanwhile, with Nero, just after Ruby entered her room)

'She kissed me. She kissed me. Sure it was on the cheeks, but still. And what's this feeling inside me?' He thought about the display of affection just a few moments ago. 'No, that's ridiculous. I can't like her this fast right?'

He sighed tiredly and shook his head, trying to deny his own feeling. As he entered his room, he was immediately greeted by Aurea and Rouge, who had a teasing smile on their face.

"Soooo, how goes your date with Ruby?" Asked the blonde.

"*Sigh* It's a long story. Mind if I sit first?" He asked with an exhausted expression. This made Aurea concerned as he usually would have reacted more with her teasing.

"What's wrong?" She asked in worry.

He told them everything about what happened earlier. Aurea immediately squealed when she heard about the kiss.

"Ohmigod, Nero. I'm so proud of you." She cooed excitedly.

"Yeah dude. You sure move fast." Rouge said as he pat his leader at the back.

"And that's exactly it. I'm moving fast. A little too fast don't you think?" The heir answered.

Now Aurea was definitely worried. He was usually never this sad.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, it's just that, we've only just met less than a week ago, and now I'm having all these weird feelings around her. I'm just not sure whether or not-" Nero explained but was cut off by Azur before he could finish.

"You're confused whether you actually have feelings for Ruby or if it's just a crush." The Faunus finished for him.

"...Yeah." The heir confirmed, folding his knees towards his body in an act of vulnerability.

"Oh Nero." Aurea gave her 'brother' a sisterly hug to comfort him. "I'm sure it's not just a crush. We all know it."

"Yeah Nero, I'm sure everyone who has seen you two interact will say that you like her and not just a stupid crush." Rouge tried to reassure him.

"Azur, what do you think?" Nero asked his partner.

"Well, I would like to say that I think the same as the rest, but it won't matter anyway." He answered getting confused looks from the three. "Because the one whose opinion matters is yours. So I ask you. What do you think?" He threw the question back to the skunk-haired boy.

"That's not fair. I don't even know what my feelings are." He replied in a depressed tone.

"That's why I want you to think about it." The Faunus requested.

"Think about it?"

"Yes, think about it. I'm sure you guys know about the saying 'all's fair in love and war.'" When he got nods of confirmation, he continued his point. "Well, in a war, you have to analyze everything so you can obtain victory. So why can't you do it for love? Why don't you analyze your feelings for her first and see if you really like her or not. Then make a decision if you want to pursue her. That's what I'm trying to say."

Aurea had tears streaming down her eyes as Azur finished his speech. She never told anyone, but she was actually a diehard romantic.

"Oh Azur, that was so romantic." She said sniffling from her tears.

"I was just trying to help Nero." He huffed in denial.

"...Thanks Azur." Nero who was silent for a while finally spoke. "I really appreciate your advice."

"No problem. You're my teammate, and most of all you're our leader. We're supposed to be behind you through every decision." He said with a smile.

Rouge chose to interrupt the bonding between the two.

"You know, Azur. With advice like that, you could probably be a love counselor now." Rouge teased with his grin.

"And why? So you can take advice for Yang?" The wolf Faunus retorted. Rouge immediately recoiled from the comment.

"W-what are you talking about?" He stuttered for a moment.

"Oh please, don't deny it. You have an attraction towards Yang." Azur threw back.

"Dude, please. I'm literally the guy she met in a bar. Nothing attractive 'bout that." The red head denied vehemently.

"That reminds me Azur. How did you really meet her anyway?" Aurea asked, trying to change the subject. As Rouge kept avoiding the subject, Nero was lying on his bed thinking about Azur's word.

'My feelings towards Ruby huh? What do I feel about her really?' He thought. Unknown to him, A certain Scythe loving girl was also thinking of the same thing.

'Is Nero just my friend? Or was it really more?'

'Do I like him/her?' They both thought simultaneously.

 **Author's Note: Anndddd DONE! Whew. You know, I expected less than 5k words for this chapter seeing as this is a filler, not more than 7k. But I digress, it was well done in my honest opinion, though the fluffy part was a bit of a hassle. You see, as I was writing this, I was thinking to myself. 'Aren't I making their relationship go a little too fast?' Now while I love romance and everything, even I know that people can't fall in love within a week or so, unless it was a crush. And so, I decided to express that feeling of mine into the characters" so they can have more developments in the future, 'cause if there is something that I like in a story, it's character development. That's why I plan to put a bunch of them in my story. But eh, no spoilers.**

 **Anyways people, please read and give your appropriate feedback with the reviews, 'cause I want reviews. Never had one, this being my first fanfic and all. So yeah, you give me review and I'll review yours. Sounds good? Sooo, have fun people.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	5. Ch 5 Jaundice and Gaining a Wolf's Trust

**Author's Note: Hello people! King of Blacks here, with a new chapter. I started these story two months ago, and man am I happy with the results. 500+ views at 4 chapters! Granted, no reviews yet, but that comes with being a new writer and all. Anyway, thank you to all the readers out there, especially those who actually followed and faved my story. Brings tears to my eyes. Anyway, I'm still on the mood to write another chapter, so here you go! Chapter 5 for Our Purpose. Do enjoy.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 5: Jaunedice and Gaining a Wolf's Trust Part 1

(Location: Amphitheater)

Jaune was not having fun.

He was currently leaning on his sword, Crocea Mors, looking out of breath and obviously worse for wear. He then stared at his opponent across the arena.

Cardin Winchester was without doubt, a monster. He stood taller than most of the students in the school save for a few, and though his arrogance knows no bounds, there is no denying that his skill with a mace is top-notch.

Jaune, having regained his breath rushed towards Cardin who was laughing at the blond's incompetence. Jaune tried to slash the orange haired guy, but he just jumped away from the strike. And as he turned back, Jaune got his shield smashed with the mace, throwing him across the arena with his shield disarmed. Now only left with a sword, Jaune again decided on a reckless charge, hoping to at least strike Cardin once. Unfortunately, Cardin's skills proved superior as he easily blocked it with the hilt of his mace.

"This is the part where you lose." He taunted.

"Over my dead-" Jaune replied, but was kneed in to stomach before he could finish, sending him crumpling to the ground. Cardin then raised his mace up in the air, intent on delivering the final blow when all of a sudden-

"Cardin, that's enough." The stern voice of Glynda Goodwitch as she spoke. The lights were switched back on, revealing all the students spectating the fight. Cardin relented pulled back his mace, not wanting to anger the headmistress of Beacon.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match." She lectured. Jaune was lying on the ground in defeat as Pyrrha can only look at him with sadness. Professor Goodwitch turned her head to the defeated knight. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy." Jaune took out his scroll revealing his Aura level, blinking at red, and his entire team.

"We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?" She added.

"Speak for yourself." Cardin sneered from the sidelines. The blonde professor stared at the spectating students and continued her speech.

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!" All of them grew excited hearing this as shown by Yang who was raising her fists in anticipation, Weiss shaking her hands excitedly, and Ruby shaking around like a child in a toy store. When the bell rang, all the students left the amphitheater, but Pyrrha could only frown in sadness as she watched her leader hang his head in shame on the arena.

* * *

(Location: Cafeteria)

"There we were, in the middle of the night." Nora's turquoise eyes narrowed as she recited her story.

"It was day." Ren deadpanned next to her.

"We were surrounded by Ursa!" The audience, Yang seemed taken by the story while her partner, Blake just kept reading her book.

"They were Beowolves." Ren was holding a cup of coffee as he corrected his childhood friend.

"Dozens of them!" She screamed this out to her friends at the table, but only a few were actually listening. Jaune was playing with his food, Weiss ignores her in favor of filing her nails, Aurea was lecturing Rouge on something, and Azur just ate his foods silently (leaving his vegetables of course).

"Two of them." Ren corrected her again.

"But in the end, they were no match. And so, Ren and I made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs." The hyperactive girl grinned as she ended her story.

Ren gave a tired sigh. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

"Ummm, Nora. Not to spoil your happy dreams or anything, but Grimms disappearright after they die." Nero broke the news.

"Don't spoil my dreams, Nero! I've always wanted an Ursa skin rug." Nora whined childishly before turning to Ren. "Ren! Nero's spoiling my dream!"

Ren just sighed at her attitude. But he wouldn't replace her for anything in the world. Pyrrha stared at Jaune who was playing with his food.

"Jaune, are you okay?" The scarlet haired girl asked in worry.

That brought Jaune out of his trance. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Why?"

"It's just that you seemed...a little not okay." Ruby answered.

Jaune looked nervous as the rest turned their attentions to him. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, look." He tried to play it off before putting a thumbs up and faking a laugh. But his friend knew better.

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you ever since the first week of school." Pyrrha said sternly.

"What, Cardin Winchester? Nah, he just likes to mess around. You know, practical jokes?" Their focus was shifted to Team CRDL who was sitting around a girl with bunny ears. Sky was mocking an impersonation of her while the rest laughed, the girl shuffling around nervously. Azur who was watching this, clenched his fists and growled loudly, which got looks of worry from his team members.

"Jaune, he's a bully." Ruby said with narrowed eyes.

The blond just scoffed. "Oh please. Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

The others stared at him in deadpan.

* * *

 _Jaune was walking through the hallway to class and Cardin was walking at the opposite direction. When they were next to each other, the orange haired knocked his arms at Jaune, knocking his books down, and continued on his merry way._

 _"Oh come on." The knight groaned._

* * *

 _This time, Jaune were walking through a doorway and Cardin was in front of him. Then all of a sudden, Cardin clicked on his sheath, turning it into his shield, which effectively blocked the doorway. Jaune was struggling to remove it from the doorway._

 _"Oh, come on."_

* * *

 _Glynda was walking through the locker room to explain about the devices._

 _"Each of you will be assigned a locker to store your weapons and extra armor." She said. "Additionally, these lockers can be sent on a custom location based on a six-digit code."_

 _Cardin who was walking next to Jaune had an evil grin on his face as an idea came up to him. Doing the classical old trick, Cardin shoved the poor blond to one of the lockers, ignoring his cry of protest as the school bully pressed on random numbers, sending the locker off to the sky. In a distance, we could hear Jaune's cry of 'Oh, come on.'_

* * *

"Hehehe, I didn't land that far." Jaune try to shrug it off as his friends focused on him.

"Jaune, you know that if you ever needed help, you can ask." Pyrrha said in a pleading tone.

"Ooh, I know. We can break his legs." Nora suggested with a maniacal glint on her eyes, drawing odd looks from the others.

"No, Nora. We are not going to break anyone's leg today." Aurea lectured getting Nora to sit back.

"Guys, I'm fine really." He reassured them to no avail. "Besides, it's not like he's just a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everyone."

They then heard a pleading cry.

"Ow, that hurts." Azur and the rest turned their backs, and what they saw made them angry, and Azur seething with anger.

Cardin was pulling on the girl's rabbit ears as she was begging to them to release it.

"Please, stop."

Cardin just ignored her. "I told you it was real."

Russel Thrush, one of his teammates guffawed alongside the rest. "What a freak."

Suddenly, someone roared out Cardin's name.

"Winchester!"

The bully turned and saw Azur standing in front of him, shaking in anger.

"Let her go." He warned menacingly.

Cardin was not deterred by the angry tone, and instead gave him a smug look.

"Oh, yeah. What're you gonna do?" He challenged the Faunus.

"I won't repeat myself Winchester. Let her go." He warned again.

"Hahahaha, big deal. Whatever." The orange haired guy said dismissively. "Trying to protect your own kind? Well, not surprising, considering that you're the freakiest of them all."

The whole of Team CRDL laughed at Cardin's joke, but was immediately silenced when Azur kneed him on the stomach, making him drop to the ground, releasing the girl's ear from his grip, who immediately ran off. Cardin didn't even have a chance to recover before he found a fist planted on his face, sending him flying through a few tables. The raging Faunus proceeded to grab the bully by his neck and hoisted him to the air.

"You think you're strong just 'cause you bully people huh? " Azur growled. "Just remember, Cardin. You can insult me or anything. But once you mess with my kind, you'll feel my wrath."

Unfortunately, the tribesman was too caught in anger to realise Cardin's teammates sneaking up behind him.

"Azur, watch out!" Nero warned but was a little bit too late as Dove threw a punch on Azur's head, making him recoil in surprise and release Cardin who immediately gave a kick to the stomach. The faunus fell to his knees as Team CRDL hold his hands off and Cardin gave a smirk.

"That was just a lucky shot just now, you monster." The bully sneered. "Now let me show how a human punch." He threw a punch on the Faunus as he cried out in pain, but it was only temporary. Azur threw the three members of Team CRDL all over and from there, it escalated into a fist fight. The Faunus was outnumbered four to one, but his rage had completely blinded him. Azur was about to be beaten up when the stern voice of Glynda Goodwitch appeared.

"What is happening here? I heard a commotion from outside." She said. Then she stared at the five freshmen who looked bruised and beaten up.

"Mr. Castillo. To the Headmaster's office. Now." The headmistress said, disapproval laced in her tone. Azur meanwhile was wide eyed and angry.

"What?! Why am I the only one brought up?!" He tried to speak further, but Goodwitch's intense glare silenced him.

"Headmaster's office. NOW." She said in a no-nonsense tone. He gave a scathing glare to Cardin who was looking smug after being let off the hook, before walking with the professor.

Meanwhile, Nero was groaning at the tables.

"Oh, man. I knew this was gonna happen." He said.

"Well, let's just hope things can go well from here." Aurea reassured him.

* * *

(Location: Headmaster's Office)

"You do realise that there will be severe repercussions to your actions today, Mister Castillo? Glynda chastised him.

"He was harassing a Faunus! And you expect me to let it go?!" He cried out in outrage.

"That is still not an excuse to resort to violence!" She retorted.

"He is a Bully! Any other options was out of question. He needs to be put down so he knows his place!"

"You were breaking the rules of this Academy!"

"HE WAS MESSING WITH THE GIRL'S EARS!" Azur roared out, his patience finally thinning out. Glynda inwardly flinched, but didn't let it show. It was a known fact that a faunus animal parts is their most precious part of them, and to mess with it is a great insult.

"The situation still stands Mister Castillo. You have broken a major school regulation-" Glynda spoke but was cut off by Ozpin who was sitting on his chair calmly sipping his coffee.

"Calm down, Glynda." He said, playing as the mediator. "Shouting at the students will only serve to aggravate them." Glynda just took a deep breath and calm herself down. Ozpin then turned his attention to the wolf Faunus. "And Mister Castillo, I'm sure there are questions you want to ask."

Azur rolled his eyes, with Glynda staring at him in disapproval. "Why was I the only one brought here? As far as I'm concerned, Team CRDL also broke the rules."

"And you are right." The headmaster replied. "But the situation surrounding Mister Winchester is complicated and cannot be approached by normal means."

"Please, enlighten me." The wolf shape shifter scoffed.

"You see Azur. Cardin was accepted to this academy by demands of one of the councilmen. The man was Bishop Winchester, the father of Cardin." Ozpin explained. "And so, any form of punishments to him will have...severe consequences."

"You kidding me?" Azur was enraged. "That is why you protect that pathetic excuse for a person? So you can protect your own position?"

"Azur, you are mistaken." The pragmatic headmaster tried to soothe his anger, but he was beyond reasons.

"Bah, excuses. You humans are all the same. Cowards and hypocrites. You claim to strive for peace, yet you subjugate the weak. You claim to work for equality, yet you let the undeserving suffer. If this is the true face of the esteemed Beacon Academy, then I will simply leave." With his angry rant finished, he stormed off the office in a fit of rage.

Glynda sighed in frustration before turning Ozpin who remained calm the whole time. "Ozpin, when are you going to settle this matter? We cannot simply let the council toy with us."

"And we will Glynda. In time." The man reassured her. "You know that the Council has the power to take off my position, let alone a student. I am simply waiting for the right time to strike."

"And as for Mister Castillo..." She drawled out, expecting a response.

"Let's just hope that he can see reason in time." The gray-haired man said cryptically.

* * *

(Location: Hallway)

'So, even the headmaster is trying to protect his own skin. Perfect' Azur thought bitterly as he walked through the hallway. As he was drowned on his thoughts, he failed to realise a person in front of him as he collided with them.

"Ow, watch where you're going." He growled.

"Err, sorry." The person apologised timidly. The voice felt familiar to him, so he looked at the person, revealing a pair of brown rabbit ears.

"You're the girl from the cafeteria." He said in realisation. The girl shrunk down meekly and gave a weak nod.

"And you're the guy who helped me just now." She said softly.

"It's fine. Is your ear okay?" He asked in concern.

"It's fine. I've gotten used to it. They usually do it when my team wasn't there." The rabbit Faunus waved it off. But Azur gave a scowl.

"It's not fine. You know that it's an insult for someone to touch a Faunus's animal parts without permission. And where are your teammates actually?" He asked.

"They got a different lunch time than me, so I usually go alone." She replied.

"But, why didn't you fight back?" The wolf Faunus questioned.

"If I fight back, that would just be proving them right." The rabbit said softly.

But Azur wasn't giving up. "It'd be better than just letting yourself harassed like that." The girl went silent and Azur felt a little bit of guilt for pressing on her too hard.

"Sorry. Anyway, I'm Azur Castillo. Freshman. You?" He apologised before introducing himself.

"Velvet Scarlatina. Sophomore. Nice to meet you, Azur." The girl, now named Velvet, gave a soft smile.

"Likewise, Velvet." It felt nice knowing people other than his circle of friends (which was mostly because of his team's interaction with them and not his own effort).

"I have to go Azur. We'll talk some other time." Velvet excused herself off and walked away from the wolf, who was staring at her.

'She's...something.' He thought with a smile.

* * *

(With Nero)

'Ohmigod, where is he?' Was Nero's thought as he walked across the hallway looking for his missing partner. Class was already over and he hasn't shown up yet. 'I'm still wondering 'bout what happened just now.'

As he walked around, a door opened to reveal a saddened Pyrrha from the room. **(I know it wasn't a room but let's just assume that Nero doesn't know about it, kay?)**

"Pyrrha?" Nero called out.

"Nero? What're you doing here?" A surprised Pyrrha asked.

"I was looking around for Azur." He replied before turning the question back to her. "What're you doing here?"

"Umm, I was just taking a walk." Pyrrha stammered, although she seems to be in a rush. "Anyway, I have to go. See ya." And the scarlet-haired girl immediately ran off, leaving a confused Nero behind.

'What was that just now?' The heir thought, as he stared at the door where Pyrrha came from. Feeling curious, he opened up to find out what's in the room when he heard voices inside.

"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room. So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!" The voice which sounds like Cardin spoke.

"Cardin, I'm begging you! Please don't tell anyone" Jaune's voice pleaded to Cardin.

"Oh Jaune, you know I'd never rat out a friend."

"A...friend?" Jaune asked nervously.

"Of course! We're friends now, Jauney boy! And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." Cardin then spoke maliciously. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?...That's what I thought. Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me."

Nero was shocked to the core right now.

'Jaune faked his way to Beacon? And now Cardin got him on a leash. How am I supposed to help?' He thought. 'I can tell Professor Ozpin, but then they'll know about Jaune and he'll also be kicked out. Not a good plan. And if I try to help him directly, Cardin'll probably just tell the headmaster. Agh, goddamit!' He punched the wall in frustration. 'My friend's in trouble and I can't do anything.'

Deciding that he was not in the mood anymore, he just walked back to his dorm room.

* * *

(Location: Team NARA's Room)

As soon as he entered the room, Nero was approached by Aurea.

"So, did you find him?" She asked, concerned for her teammate. She was the elder sister figure for the three, so she felt that it was her duty to look out for them. When Nero shook his head, she slumped down.

"Nope, didn't see him around." Nero answered, leaving the part about Jaune.

"You know, for such a big guy like Azur, he sure is hard to find." Rouge added. And right on cue, the Faunus searching for entered the room.

"AZUR!" The three cried out.

"Where were you just now? We were worried 'bout you." Aurea chided him, but her tone was still filled with worry.

"Yeah, dude. You missed class just now. What happened at the Headmaster's office just now?" Rouge asked, and a frown formed on Azur's face.

"It's a long story." Azur tried to avoid the subject, but they kept pressing on.

"Azur, just tell us. We got time." The leader said. The Faunus sighed before he retold the events in the Headmaster's office.

"Azur!" Aurea gasped in horror. "You did not just insult the Headmaster, did you?"

"They deserved it." He muttered out.

"Azur, I think you're misunderstanding the situation." Nero tried to reason.

"No, I'm not! They were protecting Cardin who was clearly in the wrong to protect their jobs."

"No, Azur. I think you got this the wrong way. They were just trying to-" Nero spoke but was cut off by the Wolf Faunus.

"They were trying to what?! Why are you so insistent in defending their actions?" He shouted in anger. "Are you siding with them?"

"What? NO!" Nero replied, angry at his teammate's implication. "I am not trying to defend them! I was just saying that maybe you should look at this at Professor Ozpin's view."

"Bah, excuses again." He spat. "Is that all you humans are capable off? Spouting out stupid reasons so you can justify your actions against Faunus?! You are all just bigots."

"Azur, not all of us hate Faunus. Not all humans are racists. You have to trust me." Aurea pleaded to Azur but it fell into deaf ears.

"HUMANS HAVE KILLED MY PARENTS! WHAT REASON SHOULD I GIVE TO TRUST THEM?!" He roared out, before turning away, to exit the room.

"Azur, wait-" Nero tried to reach out for him, but was given a punch to the face, sending him to the other side of the room.

"Don't even try to follow me." The wolf Faunus warned in a low tone, before storming out of the room. When he was out, Aurea ran over to Nero, who was lying on the ground.

"Nero!" She cried out in worry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Aurea." Nero groaned out in pain. "We're gonna have to follow Azur."

"I don't think so." Rouge warned. "Azur's kinda having a short fuse right now, so we better let him vent out for a while. If he doesn't return by tomorrow, then we'll look for him."

Nero could only sigh tiredly. "If you say so."

Then, Ruby's voice was heard outside.

"Uhh, Nero?" They turned around to see Team JNPR and RWBY staring at them with concern. "Is everything okay?"

Aurea shook her head negative. "No, Ruby. We're not okay. But we'll be fine. Don't worry." She tried to reassure them.

"Just know, you can ask us for anything." Ren said wisely, with everyone nodding their heads together. The three members of Team NARA smiled at their friends, but when Nero realised the absence of Jaune, he was only reminded by what happened earlier, and sighed in frustration.

'Why is this happening to us?' He thought bitterly.

* * *

(Location: Downtown Vale)

'Why aren't they helping me?' Azur thought sadly as he walked the streets of Downtown Vale. Although he was angry at his team, he was mostly sad that they did not support him in this matter. 'All they keep saying that I should think about this in Professor Ozpin's view, but what is there to see? He was clearly turning a blind eye on Cardin to protect his career.'

They might think that he's overreacting and all, but who wouldn't. His last encounter with the humans ended up with his parent's dead, and a scar that will never heal. He still remembered that day like it was yesterday.

Their tribe, the Castillo's prided themselves for their stalwart warriors and their unique Dust Weaving skills. They even had their own Dust mine which left them with almost unlimited supply of Dusts. So you could say that while they were not as technologically advanced as the other settlements in Atlas, at the very least, they have survived.

Until one day eight years ago, group of humans, from a Dust mining company called The Golden Dust Corporation, arrived at their settlement claiming the village as their property. The people were naturally against this and tried to rebel against the humans, but the elders and the chieftain stopped them before it could escalate. They said that fighting against the humans will only lead to the destruction of the tribe. So, with great reluctance, the people surrendered.

The humans quickly took their people, mostly adults, to work as miners. One of them being Azur's mother, a well-known priestess in the village. They were forced to work under dangerous weather conditions with Grimms wandering about, and so, not many people survived. And not only that, the humans abused the remaining villagers, and threatened to desecrate a holy place for their tribe. In the end, Azur's father, the chief's right hand man had enough, and led a few of the strongest warriors to save the ones enslaved as miners. Unfortunately, an explosion happened at the mines causing a cave in that killed almost everyone, including his parents.

This incident led to the people finally taking up arms and standing against the humans. After a grueling battle, they finally managed to run the humans out of their territory. At a terrible cost. Many warriors and villagers died in the uprising, and that was excluding those who died during the cave-in. His parents, dead. All because of humans and their greed.

He kept on thinking of the events until a growl from his stomach alerted him. He realised that he hasn't eaten anything from lunch, and even then, he only ate a little as he was sent to the Headmaster's office due to Cardin. Looking around, he saw a diner just across the street. Seeing that he's hungry, and he has his wallet, he figured that he might as well get a taste of Vale's cuisine.

When the wolf entered the building, he could see that this place was a bit neglected, with a few cracked walls, water dripping from the ceiling, but he couldn't deny that it does give out a warm feeling. As he observed, there were only a few customers there. A few old men, chatting about their pasts, a couple who couldn't seem to resist from displaying their affections to their significant other, and a lone mother with her young daughter. Yep, seems like a nice place.

He took a seat at the corner, when the waitress came up to him. She was a cat Faunus, as seen from her ears, wearing an outfit reminiscent of the older times, complete with the roller blade, and a cheerful expression on her face.

"What can I do for you, sir?" She said with a polite smile.

"Uhhh, I'll have some beef steaks please. And water."

"Alright, we'll have your order ready in a couple of minutes, sir." The waitress bowed, before skating off to the kitchen shouting out the order. As he was waiting for the for his order to arrive, he wondered about something.

'How did the Faunus here get used to living with the humans?' He thought. 'I mean, won't they be subjected to the abuse the whole time?'

He was brought out of his thoughts when the Faunus waitress arrived back with his steak.

"Here you go, sir. Enjoy." She smiled gracefully. Azur returned the gesture and thanked her, before asking a question.

"Ummm, miss. Can I ask you a question?" He asked.

"What is it?"

"Uhhh, maybe you should sit first." He offered the seat across him.

"I don't know. I'm not on my break yet." She had a thoughtful look on her face before she shrugged it off. "Sure, why not? It's not like this place is busy anyways." She sat down and leaned forward, cupping her face and gazing at his eyes with interest.

"So, what does a handsome wolf like you want with a little cat like me?" She asked with an alluring tone, and Azur couldn't help but blush at her compliment.

"Uhhh, I wanted to ask." He fumbled nervously before calming himself down. "How long have you been living here? In Vale?"

"Eh, pretty much my entire life."

"Annnd, have you been you know, abused because of your ears?"

"'Course I do. But it's not like you don't get used to it."

"How?" He asked. "How did you get used to this kind of living? I mean, wouldn't you at one point feel tired of the abuse?"

She was thinking on his question, before answering.

"You know, you must be one of those Faunus from the tribes, right?" Seeing his nod, she continued. "Well, I guess that makes sense. What I can say is that, not everyone you meet around here hates Faunus. So, even when I was teased and everything, I know that there'll always be one guy who cares for me for who I am. Like my boss."

Azur raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Your boss?"

The girl had an enthusiastic smile. "Yeah, my boss. He's the one who actually took me in. Right after my parents died." Azur had a sad look she spoke, reminded of his own past. "He's like my dad now, but he doesn't want to admit it."

"At least, you have someone to take care of you." He muttered bitterly.

The waitress saw the expression on his face, and soon a look of sympathy spread across her face. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think of the past."

"It's okay. You didn't know." He spoke softly.

"Hey, don't worry. Sooner or later, you'll meet them." She said with a kind smile. "Your precious person. Trust me-" Before she could speak more, the entrance door slammed the wall as some rude-looking people entered the diner. The customers immediately felt uncomfortable with their presence, especially the mother, who was close to the entrance hugging her child.

"Oh man, this place stinks of rats." One of the punks, presumably the leader, sniffed around the place before belching in mock disgust. "Oi Blue, get de fuck outta here."

The Faunus waitress came to the punks with her hands on her hip and a stern look on her face.

"Sir, I think you should leave." She said politely with a glare. "You're making the customers feel uncomfortable."

"I didn't ask for you, pussycat. I ask for your boss." He sneered rudely. "And 'sides, ain't my fault if these people don't wanna eat inside this dumpster. Piece of crap, I tell you."

"Hey, I oughta-" The girl tried to retaliate but a voice stopped her.

"Iris, stop." The voiced called sternly.

Azur turned to see an elderly man in a chef's outfit, probably the owner of the diner. And from the rat tail jutting out his back, he is definitely a Faunus.

"Now, what do you want?"

"Ah, Blue. The filthy old rat." The punk leader grinned evilly. "You still owe me money. Ten thousand lien."

The man named Blue just glared at him before replying. "As far as I remember, I do not owe you any money. Besides, you never asked this much from the others."

"Hah, that's 'cause they're all humans." He smirked. "You're lucky that we let you bring your dirty ass hands to cook for people. You're a filthy rat for fucks sake." They punks laughed at their leader's joke. The mother, who has had enough finally spoke up.

"Boy, I think you should watch your mouth." The woman chastised. "There's a kid here."

"Blah, blah, blah." The punk rudely mouthed off. "Shut up, you dumb hoe. You're just a shitty Faunus lover. If you love the Faunus so much, why don't you join them?" He raised his hands intending to strike the woman.

The mother recoiled back, bracing for pain, but it never came. She looked up and saw Azur, grabbing the hands of the punk leader.

"Oi! Who da fuck are you, you filthy ass?!" He cried in anger. "You want some too?"

Azur just stared at him silently, not afraid of this punk at all.

"I don't know what to call you, but I think you should leave." He threatened with a cold glare.

"What, you one of those filthy Faunus from Beacon?" He sneered back. "You think just 'cause you're a student there, you think you're hot stuff now?" He then threw a punch with his free arm to the wolf's face, who didn't look the slightest bit affected.

"You call that a punch?" He mocked. "I've felt ants hit me harder than that." Deciding to return the favor, he punched the punk leader on the face, sending him skidding on the floor, as his goons stared at him wide-eyed. Even without his tribal outfits (which was his weapon, technically), his strength was still above average.

"You don't even have an Aura." Azur noted in disgust. "And you wanted to fight me?

The punk leader, was still struggling in pain, but managed to order his goons.

"What are you waiting for, fucktards? Get him!" The goons then circled around Azur, pulling out their pocket knives and baseball bats.

Seeing this, he looked at the staffs and customer and warned them. "Step aside." They all reluctantly complied and moved away.

When the punks advanced towards him, all hell broke loose. One of the punks **(Lets call him Punk #1, and so on)** charged at him with a pocket knife, before Azur grabbed his arm and in a quick motion, disarmed him, punched his stomach, smashed his head on a nearby table, knocking him out. Punk #2 attempted to smash him with a baseball bat, but he was grabbed and instantly thrown away, sending him crashing on a table. Punk #3 tried to sneak up on him, but found himself elbowed on the face and knocked out. Punk #4 looked scared shitless, but tried to charge at the Faunus, but Azur simply roared at him making him faint in fear.

Before long, all the punks were defeated with ease, with them having no Aura at all. The wolf Faunus approached the Punk leader, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him up in the air.

"Now, let me say it again one more time." He growled menacingly, showing his sharp canines. "Leave this place alone, and never come back. If I ever see you again. Well, let's just hope you got money for a facial reconstruction." He unleashed his claws for a fear effect, which succeeded as the punk became as pale as ghost. He was dropped unceremoniously to the ground, and when he regained his bearings, he stood up and ran away like the wind, fearing for his life. His goons quickly followed suit, taking their downed friends and running away to catch up with their leader.

Once they all left, Azur turned his head to the staffs and customers.

"Sorry about the tables sir." He apologised.

"Eh, don't worry boy. Nothing a couple of lien won't fix." The rat Faunus waved it off, before taking on a grateful expression. "Still, thanks for sending those punksters out."

"It's no problem, sir. Really."

"Though, I advise you not to act out with violence again." Azur raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Look, I appreciate the fact that you've helped out this dinky restaurant of mine." The elderly Faunus named Blue said. "But using violence is not the answer to everything."

"So you would just let them abuse our kinds without fighting back?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

"And what do you think violence will solve?" Blue retorted sternly. "It is that kind of anger that leads to the hatred of Faunus kind. That's what happened with the White Fangs."

"What do you suggest I do then?" The wolf asked desperately. He's been searching for an answer this whole time. "Sit down and do nothing while they subjugate us?"

"No. Sitting down would be giving up on hope." The rat Faunus advised sagely. "Return them with acts of kindness. Show that you are the better person and never let them get to you."

"Do you really think that humans will treat us nicely just because we treat them with kindness?" Azur asked softly.

"No one said it will be easy. One act of kindness won't change everyone's mindset easily, but it will change the heart of one person." Blue continued as he gestured to his right.

Azur was confused until he felt something tugging on his sleeves. He looked down to see a young girl, one of the customers smiling at him.

"Mister Faunus! Mister Faunus!" The girl said. "Thanks for helping us just now. I was really scared when the bad man came, but you saved us all."

"I must thank you as well, young man." The mother joined in as she smiled at him gratefully. "Without you here, I don't know what would have happened to my little girl over here."

The wolf Faunus was shocked at their act of gratitude. This human who he only met less than thirty minutes ago, was expressing such gratitude even when he expressed his hatred on humans just now. It made him question his own convictions.

'Are there...really people like this? Are there really many human as kind as these people here?'

Apparently, Blue was able to read his thoughts and answered his question.

"Of course boy. Not all humans are evil. Even we Faunus are capable of despicable acts." He said wisely. "Like I said before, it ain't gonna be easy. But have patience and eventually, they will return back your kindness."

Azur felt that he heard those words once. Back when he was young. Then it hit him. It was the Elder. He said those words when Azur cried out for revenge against the humans, but he never understood it back then.

'So, this is what you've been telling me all this time, Elder? Was I really blinded with my resentment that I could not accept any form of kindness from humans?' Was his distraught thought.

"Mister, mister!" The little girl called out, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Hmmm, what is it?" He asked.

"Can I touch your ears?" She asked innocently. He was hesitant at first, but the look from the girl made him relent. He then dropped down to her level and offered her his ears. The girl was awed as she touched the wolf ears of Azur.

"Wow, it's so pretty." She cooed in awe. This made the wolf Faunus smile. Once the girl was done, he looked at the girl softly.

"What's your name?" He asked the girl.

"I'm Violet." She replied cheerfully. "Mommy gave me that name."

"Well, Violet. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I wanna be a doctor." She replied shyly. "So I can help people when they're hurt."

Azur couldn't help but smile at this girl. Her innocence did not stop her from showing kindness to anyone, even strangers. Perhaps he would have seen the world in a different light had he been like her.

"I think that is very admirable, Violet." Azur complimented. "And I hope that, when you achieved your dream, I expect you to treat my injuries when I protect Vale as a Huntsman." He then patted the young girl on the head, who couldn't help but giggle.

"Yessir." She grinned and gave a mock salute.

"Well, that's it for today, Violet." The mother called out, before turning back to Azur "We have to go back home. Once again, thank you, young man. I hope to see you around next time."

"It's no trouble, miss." He waved it off.

When the pair of mother and daughter left the diner, Azur quickly realised the time.

"Shit, I have to go back to the dorms." He cursed at his own stupidity.

"Well then, best if you leave now." Blue said with a warm smile. "And remember kid, you're always welcome around here."

"I will sir." Azur thanked him.

"And don't call me sir. Makes me feel old. The name's Marcus, but just call me Blue. Don't ask why." He said gruffly.

"But dad, you are old." Iris decided to tease her father figure, getting a scowl on his face.

Azur gave a smile and waved at the two before walking out of the restaurant. Then he realised something important.

"Blue, I haven't paid for my meal." He said.

"Eh, don't worry 'bout that kid. This one's on me." He stated dismissively.

Azur thanked the pair before leaving off to return back to Beacon.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

When he returned back, it was almost midnight. Luckily the patrol was lax, so he managed to sneak around without getting caught. When he arrived in front of his room, he sighed tiredly.

'Well, let's hope they still accept me when I go in.' He thought guiltily.

He entered the room, expecting to see his teammates lying on their beds sleeping. Instead, they were still up awake, seemingly waiting for him. When the three saw him, they cried out happily.

"AZUR!"

"Dude, you came back!" Nero said happily

"Where were you wandering off to? It's almost midnight you know that." Aurea chided to him, but was mostly happy with his return.

"I...was taking a walk." The Faunus replied hesitantly.

"I bet you were." Rouge said in a joking tone.

"About that." He stared down the floor with shame.. "I-I'm sorry about my attitude just now."

"It's okay Azur. We understand your feeling." Aurea said sincerely.

"It's just that...I shouldn't have let the past control me, and I was treating you guys like the humans that killed my parents." He admitted guiltily. "I should've trusted you a lot more than that.

"It's fine Azur, really." The heir waved it off. "We knew from the time you introduced yourself that it will take some time before you completely trust any of us. So we decided to let you make the choice whether to trust us or not."

Azur felt guilt wrecking inside him. His teammates here gave him the benefit of doubt and here he was repaying them by being a dick.

The others saw his expression and smiled. "Hey Azur. Like Nero and Aurea said, don't sweat it. We know it was hard for you to trust humans easily after what happened." Rouge said.

"But..."

"No buts, Azur." The blonde chided sternly. "We made that decision and we're happy with it. So you have to be happy with it too." She poked her finger on the Faunus's chest.

Azur was shocked before he shook his head off. This team of his is really something.

"Fine. I'm happy with it. You satisfied, Aurea?" He relented with a sigh.

"Yes, I'm happy." She nodded with a grin, before taking on a stern look. "But next time, don't run off on us again. I've had enough knucklehead to take care of. I don't need another one."

"Hey, I resent that!" Nero protested, causing everyone to laugh and Nero eventually joined in as well.

'I guess this is why you wanted me to go here, Elder.' Azur thought with a smile. 'So that I can understand the humans better.'

As they all lay down on their beds, all of them tired from the ordeals today, their leader was deep in thought.

'One problem down. Now, what am I gonna do with Jaune?' He thought before letting sleep took over him.

* * *

 **Author's Note: DONE! Well, that was a rush. I'm scared that the quality for this isn't as good as the other chapters. But anyway, this will be the first chapter dedicated for a major character developments, in this case Azur though it was still a part of Jaundice. My first plan was initially to separate these two stories (Azur's and Jaundice) into two parts, but when I made the rough plan for it, having Azur's arc after Jaundice seems a little bit awkward. That, and I need Velvet and Cardin to make an impact in Azur's arc, which is why I ended up merging the two arcs (Get it? Arc? Okay I'll stop XD) into one. By the way, what do you think of the way I potray Cardin's backstory? It seems odd to me that Cardin never seemed to get any real punishment (at least not on screen) even after he tried to attack Pyrrha with a bunch of Rapier Wasps! I mean, that has gorra be some form of punishments for assaulting other students, right? But eh, I'm probably rambling like a fool. Anyway, Have fun reading this and give me some reviews, kay? Cause I. Want. Reviews.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	6. Ch 6 Jaundice and Gaining a Wolf's Trust

**Author's Note: Hello guys! KOB here back with another chapter for Our Purpose. Sorry for the late updates. Almost lost my muse on this chapter. But anyway, looks like the elections for America's over and done, and I just wanna say. Damn. Did not expect that. So, I've been hearing all this mad rants 'bout Trump winning the vote and all, it gets tiring after a while. To all those Trump haters, calm your nips. It's not the end of the world. I also don't like Trump, and being a Muslim, I find him to be...not nice (that's me trying to be nice XD) but that's just personal opinion guys. So, instead of whining around like a bitch, how 'bout you guys chill a sec? And instead of screaming for his head or something, why don't you think positively for a change? And don't even go hating on his supporters. That's even dumber. It's their opinion and we all should respect it. There's already enough problem without this Trump stuff, and this is only making things worse.**

 **Anyway, rants done. So, without further ado, this is Chapter 6.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 6: Jaunedice and Gaining a Wolf's Trust- Aftermath

(Location: Cafeteria)

Sigh.

It seems that it was all Jaune could do right now. It's been a week since he got blackmailed by Cardin Winchester to be his gopher, and honestly, he couldn't blame anyone but himself.

'Sigh. How did things turn so bad?' He thought rhetorically. But in fact, he knew exactly how.

 **(Flashback)**

 _"This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution , more popularly known as the Faunus War!" Jaune was dozing off as Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck gave his lecture and zoomed towards his messy table, with the board covered with the map of Remnants with sticky notes placed all over it_

 _Oobleck appears to be rather a young man, with messy green hair. He has sapphire blue eyes. His attire was disheveled: his white shirt partially tucked into his dark-green pants and its collar raised, showing a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes. He also has round glasses that appear to be opaque._

 _"Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus population in Menagerie." He pointed to Menagerie on the map as he said it, before zooming to the side and sipping his coffee. "Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"_

 _His energy seemed endless as he continued zooming and sipped more coffee before continuing his lecture. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your Faunus heritage?" A few of the Faunus students raised their hands hesitantly._

 _"Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck said as he took another sip of coffee. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?"_

 _Weiss raised her hand. "Yes?" He asked._

 _"The Battle at Fort Castle." She answered proudly._

 _"Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" The hyperactive professor asked._

 _Cardin, who was sitting behind Jaune, tried to mess with him by flicking him with a paper ball, causing the blond to wake up and cry out 'Hey'._

 _Misunderstanding Jaune's cry for him having the answer, Doctor Oobleck zoomed towards his face excitedly. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?"_

 _"Uhhhh... The answer... The advantage... of the Faunus..." He fumbled around, trying to think of the answer, when Pyrrha tried to whispered him the answer from behind Oobleck. "...had over that guy's stuff..." Pyrrha then cup her hands around her eyes, and Jaune, confused by the gesture, just blurted out the closest thing he could think off. "Uhh... Binoculars!"_

 _The class laughed at him while Doctor Oobleck had an unamused expression. Cardin was seen chortling and banging the desk with his fists and Pyrrha could not help but sigh and slapped her own forehead._

 _"Very funny, Mr. Arc. Cardin, perhaps you can share your thoughts on this subject?" He turned his attention to Cardin who was leaning back with his feet on the desk._

 _"Well, I do know that it's easier to train animals than soldier." He said. The huntsman shook his head at the teen's obviously prejudiced statement._

 _Nero, who was silent the whole time scoffed. "Well, I guess you're just an exception to that rule, Cardin."_

 _"What did you just say?" The orange haired guy growled._

 _"Oh, so you're deaf too? I guess it makes sense that they don't even bother with you." He continued to mock the bully._

 _"Oh, that's it-" Cardin stood up, his fists clenched together but was stopped by Doctor Oobleck._

 _"Cardin, please sit down. And Mr. Carbone, I advise that you do not antagonise your fellow students." He chastised sternly. "Now then, who has the answer here?"_

 _Pyrrha raised her hands and spoke up. "I do, sir. It's night vision. Many faunus are known to have near-perfect eyesight during the dark."_

 _"General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Blake added, before making a jab against Cardin."Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."_

 _Cardin gets up from his seat again, rising to the taunt but was stopped by Doctor Oobleck. "Mr. Winchester, that is enough." He said. And when Jaune laughed at his tormenter, the huntsman advanced to him. "You and Mister Arc will be staying here after class for additional readings."_

 _Jaune slumped down in depression as Oobleck continued on his lessons._

 _Later on, after class was over, the two remaining student sat in front as the hyperactive Doctor lectured on them._

 _"You two have been struggling in my class since day one! Now, I don't know if it's a lack of interest, or just your stubborn nature, but whatever it is..." He trailed off as he took a long sip of his coffee and continued, "It stops now! You've worked hard to gain entrance to this school, and we only accept the best of the best, so I expect you to act like it. History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it. Pages fifty-one to ninety-one! I want an essay on my desk by next class! Now! Run along."_

 _Oobleck immediately dashed out of the classroom, missing Pyrrha who was outside, waiting for her leader. As Cardin and Jaune exited the room, the bully pushed the blond down who cried out 'Ow', and laughed before walking away as if it was nothing._

 _"You know, I really will break his legs." Pyrrha warned Jaune, as she tried thinking of a way to help him. Suddenly, an idea hit her. "I have an idea. Come on, follow me." She then dragged the confused Jaune along the hallways._

 _The two members of Team JNPR found themselves on the rooftop of the dormitory._

 _"Pyrrha, I know I'm having a hard time, but I'm not that depressed." Jaune said as he peered to the edges, much to the red head's confusion. "I could always be a farmer or something."_

 _Pyrrha had a look of horror as she realised what Jaune meant and instantly pushed Jaune away from the edges."N-n-no! That's not why I brought you up here!" She stammered before calming herself down. "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class and that you're still not the strongest of fighters, so... I want to help you!"_

 _"W-what?" Jaune said confused._

 _"We can train up here! After class where no one can bother us." Pyrrha answered enthusiastically._

 _"You...think I need help?" The blond asked._

 _"W-what? No, that's not what I meant." She cried out._

 _"But you just said it." Jaune muttered dejectedly._

 _"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Pyrrha said passionately._

 _"You're wrong. I-I don't belong here." Jaune said in a low tone, turning his head away in shame._

 _"That's a terrible thing to say. Of course you do." She chided._

 _Jaune turned to Pyrrha and cried out angrily, "No, I don't!" He sighed as he looked at the red head's bewildered expression, before revealing the truth. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon." He turned his back towards her again, not wanting her to look at his face._

 _"W-what do you mean?" The amazoness asked, fearful of what her leader has to say._

 _"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests. I didn't earn my spot at this Academy!" He voiced grew higher and higher as he confessed to his own sin, before turning to her again. "I lied! I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied!"_

 _Pyrrha was truly shocked by this, but she managed to voice out her question, "What? But why?"_

 _"'Cause this is always what I've wanted to be!" The blond explained, as he turned away in anger."My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough."_

 _Pyrrha sympathized her leader, and tried to approach him. "Then, let me help."_

 _But he was having none of it. He turned towards her and cried out in utter frustration. "I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be a hero!"_

 _"Jaune, I-" she tried to speak but was cut off by the distraught knight._

 _"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck on the tree while his friends fight for their life." He shouted, his voice cracking. "Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own...then what good am I?"_

 _Pyrrha tried to approach Jaune to console him, but he leaned away from her touch. "Just leave me alone. Okay?" He said coldly._

 _The red head bowed her head in sadness, hurt from her leader's word, but complied with his request. "If that's what you think is best."_

 _Jaune heard Pyrrha's footsteps getting softer as she walked out of the rooftop. When he no longer felt her presence, he paced around the place, trying to think of a solution for his current predicament, when he heard a familiar laughter._

 _"Oh, Jaune..." The blond turned around to see Cardin, coming out from one of the windows down the edge._

 _"Cardin?" He asked in surprise._

 _"I couldn't help but overhear you two from my dorm room." The bully said. "So, you snuck into Beacon, huh? I gotta say, Jaune, I never expected you to be such a rebel!"_

 _Jaune immediately paled at this. Who knows what Cardin would do with this secret of his? "Cardin, please! I'm begging you. Please don't tell anyone about this." He pleaded desperately._

 _"Oh Jaune, you know I'd never rat out a friend." The orange haired teen said._

 _"A...friend?" Jaune asked nervously._

 _"Of course!" Cardin wrapped his arm around the blond's head, choking him in the process. "We're friends now, Jauney boy!"_

 _He then released Jaune who groaned out in pain before continuing, "And the way I see it, as long as you're there for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time." Cardin then spoke maliciously. "That being said, I really don't have time to do those extra readings Dr. Oobleck gave us today. Think you could take care of that for me, buddy?_

 _Cardin took Jaune's silence as a sign of agreement as he ruffled the blond's hair and gave him a grin. "That's what I thought. Don't worry, Jaune; your secret's safe with me." He then returned back to his room as Jaune sighed tiredly at his new predicament."_

 **(Flashback Ends)**

So there he was. Stuck as a personal gopher for Team CRDL for who knows how long, and having avoided his friends for the past few days, especially Pyrrha who he thinks is still mad at him after his harsh words. Unknown to him, he was the topic of the conversation with his friends.

"Hey, don't you think that Jaune has been kinda distant lately?" Ruby noted.

"Well, now that you mention it, he hasn't been with us for a while now." Aurea said thoughtfully. "In fact, he seems to be hanging around with Team CRDL nowadays. You think something happened?"

"Probably, but I think Team JNPR would know." Weiss said. Everyone turned to Team JNPR, who shook their heads, excluding Pyrrha who seemed to be in her own world.

"We're not really sure either actually." Ren said sadly, confused by his leader's behavior currently. Aurea noticed Pyrrha's silence and called for her.

"Pyrrha?" She said. When the red head did not respond, she increased her voice. "Pyrrha!"

That shook Pyrrha out of her trance. "Uhhh, yes?"

"We were just asking if you guys know something about Jaune." Aurea reiterated the question.

"Oh, yes. Jaune." The amazon warrior said nervously. "I'm sure he's fine. He's our leader after all." The others were not convinced at all, but let it slide. Nero, on the other hand, has been staring at Jaune who seemed uncomfortable with Cardin and his team. When he saw the blond excusing himself off to go out of the cafeteria, the heir took his chance. He needed to talk to Jaune ASAP.

"Umm, sorry guys." He said quickly, his eyes still watching out for Jaune. "I got something to do. See ya later." He quickly walked out of the cafeteria, much to the confusion of his friends.

"What's with him?" Rouge asked, confused.

"Uhhh, I don't know." Aurea replied, having the same expression as Rouge.

* * *

(Location: Balcony)

Jaune stood at the balcony, obviously distraught over his own misfortune.

'Maybe I should have been a farmer or something.' He thought with a sigh.

The blond drowned himself in his own thoughts until he heard a voice calling for him.

"Jaune!" Turning around, he saw Nero, with a smile on his face.

"Uhhh, Nero..." He laughed nervously as the leader of Team NARA approached him.

"Hey Jaune. Haven't seen you around in the last few days." Nero said as he joined the blond at the balcony.

"Hehehe. Yeah, I've been kinda busy lately." The knight said nervously.

"Yeah, we can see that. Even your team hasn't talked to you." The heir remarked, getting Jaune to rub the back of his head.

"Uhhh, yeah..." He trailed off, remembering about Pyrrha.

"Hey, Jaune." Nero said with a serious look.

"Yes, Nero?" Jaune asked.

Nero paused for a moment, before sighing. "I know about your deal with Cardin." Jaune's expression immediately paled as the heir's word sank in.

"Hehehe, what're you talking 'bout Nero?" The blond tried to play it off, but the sweat all over his face said otherwise. "What deal? Cardin and I are just best buds. That's all."

"Jaune, cut the crap." Nero cut off bluntly. "I know how you got to Beacon, okay? Don't even try to lie."

Hearing this, Jaune just sighed and faced the heir. "You...you gonna tell Professor Ozpin about this?" He asked meekly.

Nero was shocked by his words. "What?! Hell no!" He quickly said. "You're my friend Jaune. I'm not gonna snitch on you or anything."

"Really?" Jaune muttered lowly.

"Yes, Jaune. I won't tell anyone about this." The heir reassured the knight. "But I'm curious though." The blond tilted his head in curiosity. "Why try so hard to go to Beacon?"

When Jaune look depressed at his words, Nero quickly added. "Not that it's wrong or anything. I'm just curious."

"Oh." Was the blonde's response before he told Nero his reasons **(It's the same explanation with Pyrrha, so I won't bother you with the details).**

"Wow. That's...cool." Nero said in shock. "But, why didn't you just ask help from Pyrrha? She's one our best fighters around, heck she's probably the best."

Jaune expression turned glum as Pyrrha was mentioned. "I...I kinda messed up with Pyrrha." He then told the heir of what happened at the rooftop.

"I guess that explains why she looked like someone kicked her puppy lately." Nero sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That was some dick move right there Jaune."

Jaune slumped down in shame, admitting his mistake. "Is there anything I should do?"

"Well, for starters, I think you should deal with Cardin first." Jaune immediately paled at this. "Look, I know what you're thinking, but Cardin is the one who got you in this mess, not including yourself. So, we get him off blackmailing you, then you're free to do anything."

"But how am I supposed to do that?" The blond asked.

"That's your job to find out." Nero replied getting Jaune to face plant. "I can't help you on that one Jaune. Don't get me wrong. I want to help you, but the way I see it, I think it's best if you do it by yourself. And don't tell me that you can't do it on your own." He glared sharply at Jaune. "Ozpin picked you as the leader for a reason. He believed that you can make a good decision. And if anything, I believe in you too."

The leader of Team JNPR could only sigh at Nero's word. "If you say so, Nero."

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

Jaune was walking back to his room after yet another task from Cardin and his goons. He was still thinking about Nero's words.

'But what can I do against Cardin?' He thought. 'He'll just beat me up before I can say anything.'

Just as he was about to enter his room, he heard his team conversing. Feeling curious,he decided to take a peek inside.

(With the rest of Team JNPR)

Pyrrha was staring outside the window with a gloomy expression, still sad over what happened with Jaune. Nora was jumping on her bed gleefully while Ren was performing maintenance on his weapon, Stormflower.

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" Nora's bubbly voice said.

"He's become rather scarce since he started fraternising with Cardin." Ren noted as he took aim and press the trigger for his pistol.

"That's weird. Doesn't he know that we have a field trip tomorrow." She proclaimed before twirling in mid-air and landed on her bed. "We need our rest."

Pyrrha, who remained silent for a while spoke bitterly. "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what to do." Ren and Nora glanced at each other in confusion before shrugging it off.

(Back to Jaune)

"Mmmmm...I guess so." Nora muttered out. Deciding he has heard enough, Jaune closed the door, feeling deflated as ever. Just as he was about to sulk, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey Jaune." The blond was startled and turned around to see Ruby in her pajamas and who was giggling at his reaction. "Long time no see. You got yourself locked out again?"

"Ehh, nope!" Jaune tried to play along and took out his scroll. "Got it!"

"So where have you been lately?" She asked.

"I, uh..." Jaune tried to make up a reason before deciding to just tell her the truth. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and..." He gave out a tired sigh before continuing. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He leaned to the door and slid down in utter depression. "I'm a failure."

The hallway was silent for a few moments before Ruby gave a response. "Nope."

Jaune looked up at her in surprise. "Nope?"

"Nope. You're a leader now Jaune." The red-haired girl said. "You're not allowed to be a failure."

"But what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" He asked.

Ruby gave a few second to think before answering. "Nope."

Jaune could not help but laugh at her curt response as she joined him on the floor. "You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope." Ruby replied before continuing. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid..." Jaune groaned and sank lower at her blunt words, "... and you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" He groaned again and sank even further, "But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because..." He drawled out in confusion.

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." Ruby explained before standing up and placing her hands on her hips. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you."

She walked over to her room before waving to an inspired looking Jaune. "Have a good night, Jaune!" As she entered her room, Jaune, reinvigorated by her words, turned to enter his room and talk to his team, but a beep from his scroll interrupted him. He took his scroll and opened it, revealing Cardin who was relaying a message.

"Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps. " Jaune could not help but yelp as he heard his blackmailer's request. "And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"

After the message ended, Jaune deflated back as he turned back and walked away from his room to complete his new task.

* * *

(Location: Forever Falls)

The first year students wondered at awe as they gazed around their surroundings, with trees having red leaves perpetually falling off as if it was autumn, hence the namesake.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful." Said Professor Goodwitch, who was acting as the supervisor for the trip. "But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

The group eventually stops, and Jaune, who was wheezing as he carried the large case filled with jars, tried to catch up to them only to bump into Cardin. The bully scowled at him as he whistled innocently.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." The blonde professor instructed as she held a jar filled with the red sap as an example. "However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here by 4 o'clock. Have fun!"

Yang stared at her sister and smiled. Jaune, tried to join up with his team but he was dragged by Cardin before he could do anything.

"C'mon buddy, let's go." The orange-haired bully said. Jaune just looked down as he followed Cardin while Pyrrha stared at him in sadness. She then felt a hand on her shoulders and turned around to see Nero.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha. He'll be fine." He reassured the girl.

She just sighed and replied, "I hope so." She stared once again to the now empty forest.

(Later...)

The students quickly followed on completing their tasks and filled their jars with the saps. Those that were done (or were procrastinating) were already lying around the ground relaxing or playing around.

"Well, this wasn't so hard after all." Rouge said in relief as he leaned on one of the trees. "If only all the assignments in school were as easy as this."

"Even so, that doesn't mean you should procrastinate, you know." Weiss said sternly, not encouraging his behavior at all. She glanced at her leader who was balancing a few jars on her head while Nero and Yang were watching.

"Geez, Ice Queen. Relax, would ya?" Rouge retorted with a roll of his eyes. "We've got all the time. How 'bout you loosen up a little and take a look at your surroundings."

"Don't call me Ice-" The white-haired girl spoke but was interrupted by Aurea.

"Now, now Weiss. As much as I hate to admit it, Rouge's right." Aurea said in a calm tone. "It's not like we get to visit this place everyday, right?"

Weiss hesitantly relented and sighed. "If you say so, Aurea."

"Pyrrha, are you okay?" Nora asked Pyrrha who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Huh? Yes, what is it, Nora?" Pyrrha asked as she was broken out of her thoughts.

"I was asking if you were okay." Nora said, repeating her question.

"I'm fine, Nora." She assured her teammate who only shrugged as she went back to Ren, who was collecting the saps. Truthfully, Pyrrha was thinking about her leader, Jaune who was currently with Cardin. She may have been slightly angry at him, but she was mostly concerned for his well-being.

'Jaune, I hope you know what you're doing.' She thought as she stared to the cliff where Team CRDL was located.

(With Team CRDL)

Meanwhile, Cardin and his team were relaxing around without any care, as Jaune arrived carrying eight jars filled with red saps. As he placed the jars on the ground, he immediately collapsed in exhaustion.

"Great work, Jauney-boy. Now, that wasn't so hard was it?" Cardin applauded.

"I think I'm allergic to this stuff." Jaune groaned, feeling nauseous from his tasks.

"Great, great, great." Cardin said, clearly ignoring Jaune's word. "Now, I'm sure you were wondering. 'Why did my buddy Cardin made me collect eight jars when there's only five of us?'"

"That's one of the many questions I've asked myself today, yes." The blond murmured sarcastically.

"Well, come with me and you'll find out." Cardin said with an evil tone. Jaune gulped in worry as he was dragged by the bully, not looking forward to find out his plan.

* * *

Jaune found himself at the edge of the cliff, peeking their heads at the group below them, his friends. Ren was collecting the saps while Nora was holding an empty jar for Ren. And when he gave his jar to Nora so he can collect hers, she ate the red saps in the jar, which were apparently edible, leaving an annoyed Ren who was scowling.

"Cardin, what's going on?" Jaune asked as he turned to Cardin.

"Payback." Cardin growled in response as he glared at the unsuspecting group.

Jaune turned back to the group below, before realising who he was talking about. "Pyrrha.." He breathed out.

"That's right. Red-haired girl, knows it all. Think she's so smart. But she's not the only one." He pointed to his other targets, Azur and Nero. "Those two. They think they can mess with me and get away with it. Well, we're gonna teach them a lesson."

"W-what?"

Cardin took out a box labeled W, which was shaking around and buzzing. "Last night, our friend Jaune here got us a box of Rapier Wasps and I think it's time we put them to use." He said menacingly. "Now, from one of the papers you wrote last week, this little fellas loves sweets. I'm sure those guys wouldn't mind a few stings or two."

"No.." Jaune said in horror.

"And you're gonna do it." Cardin said.

"What?" Jaune said.

Cardin then shoved a jar onto Jaune's hand. "Hit her with the sap. That, or I'm gonna have a talk with Goodwitch and you're going to be on the next ship out of Beacon." He poked the blond in the chest harshly to emphasise his threat.

Jaune turned around and proceeded to take aim at Pyrrha who was talking amicably with the group. He was torn up inside, between protecting his friends or his standing in Beacon.

'What am I supposed to do?' He thought. Then, he remembered all the advice his friends gave him in the past few days.

 _"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it to Beacon! That speaks volumes of what you're capable of!"_

 _"Ozpin picked you as a leader for a reason. He believed that you can make a good decision."_

 _"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us."_

As their words sank in, his closed his eyes in determination, voicing out his decision.

"No."

"What?" Cardin thought he heard wrong.

"I said NO!" He cried out in anger before throwing the sap to the opposite direction, before gasping in horror.

Cardin's team stared in shock as his armor was now covered in the red sap, before he laughed darkly. "Oh, you've done it now." Jaune laughed nervously before he was grabbed in the shoulders by Dove and Sky, waiting for his inevitable beating.

(With the others)

Everyone was relaxing after finishing their tasks, seeing as they have almost an hour left to waste before returning. Azur was sitting beneath a tree in a lotus position, as he observed his friend's interactions. Rouge and Yang was flirting back and forth, Ruby and Nero talking and playing around with one another, Nora was running around while Ren tried to hold her down to no avail with Pyrrha watching the two, and Aurea, Weiss and Blake was having their own conversation. He thought about joining them, but changed his mind as he hasn't gotten used to this kind of stuff yet. He just leaned back to the tree, trying to relax like the others did. Until he heard sounds. Curious, he looked up to see a flock of birds flying away from the cliff where they originated from, as if they were disturbed. Immediately, he felt something was off.

'Something's happening up there. And the only people up there were Jaune and Team CRDL.' He thought. 'I should check it out.'

He stood up and walked away towards the cliff. Nero noticed him and asked. "Hey, Azur! Where're you going?"

"I've got something to do." He replied curtly. Nero saw the look on his eyes which said 'just trust me on this'.

"Well, sure. Just be careful, okay?" He advised, giving him the go. Azur smiled at his leader and continued walking.

"Uhhh, what was that?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head.

"Nothing Ruby. You don't have to worry 'bout it." Nero replied with a smile, which only made her even more confused.

(With Jaune)

Jaune was pushed to the ground, his body covered in cuts and bruises as he stared at Cardin who cracked his knuckles menacingly before hoisting the blond up in the air.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jauney-boy." He said sadistically. "I'm gonna make that they send you home to mommy in teeny, tiny pieces."

"I don't care what you do to me..." Jaune said weakly before he gave a deadly glare towards Cardin, "...but you are not messing with my friends."

Cardin had a shocked expression before turning to fury. No one talks back to him and lived. "What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big, strong man now?

Jaune only gave a smile which infuriated the bully even more, and he punched the Arc, only to be enveloped by a flash of light as Jaune's Aura blocked the punch. When the light was gone, Cardin was holding his hand, crying out in pain while Jaune was astounded as his Aura glowed around his body healing his wounds. Unfortunately, this momentary distraction cost him as Dove sneaked up behind him and hit him from the back making him fall to the ground. Cardin was about to continue his beating when a voice interrupted.

"That's enough!"

The five huntsmen-in-training turned around to see Azur, standing with his arms crossed and a glare on his face.

"Let him go." He growled. He may not have been close with Jaune, but he was still a friend and he'll be damned before he let his friends hurt.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the filthy Faunus himself." Cardin sneered at Azur who just kept up his glare. The orange-haired boy motioned his team to handle Azur while he continued beating up the Arc. Russel, Dove and Sky did not waste any time and brandished their weapons and charged towards the wolf Faunus who just took his stance.

The mohawk-haired member of Team CRDL tried to slash Azur, who merely sidestepped and punched him in the head in return. Russel did not even have the chance to recover before he got kneed in the stomach and punched again in the face, knocking him out of the fight.

Azur immediately found himself surrounded by the remaining two, Dove and Sky chuckling evilly, thinking they had the advantage. Intent on proving them wrong, he rushed towards Sky and threw a haymaker at him, which was dodged by the halberd-wielding teen. Sky wasted no time and countered the Faunus with a slash which was easily blocked.

Dove ran towards Azur and attempted an overhead strike, but unfortunately (or fortunately), this was a fatal mistake. In a quick motion, Azur moved to the sides and Dove, who was unable to stop his momentum, collided with his teammate and fell to the ground. Taking advantage of their downed state, Azur grabbed Dove in the head and slammed his face on Sky's, knocking the two out instantly.

Cardin, who was watching the fight was stunned by the beatdown Azur laid on his team. But that quickly turned to anger. He dropped Jaune to the ground and took out his mace.

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Cardin said before dashing towards the wolf Faunus. He tried to smash Azur, but a guttural roar stopped him. When he turned around, he paled at the sight of two Ursa Majors, towering over three meters, giving out a hungry growl. Jaune shielded himself when the Grimms approached him, but he was ignored in favor of a bigger prey, namely one Cardin Winchester who was still covered in the red saps; a favorite meal for the Ursas.

The other members of Team CRDL woke up in time to see the Grimm swiping their leader down. "That's a big Ursa." Russel cried out before turning tail and took off, along with the rest. Azur however, stood his ground and ran off to assist Cardin. A bully he may be, but even he does not deserve death. He took on one of the Ursas and slammed it away from the knocked down Cardin.

Jaune looked on as the giant Grimm loomed over Cardin who looked scared shitless. Without thinking, he gripped the hilt of Crocea Mors tightly and steeled his nerves.

(With Nero and the others)

"You guys hear that?" Ruby cried out as she took out Crescent Rose.

Everyone heard the roar of the Grimm and immediately took out their weapons ready for battle. Then they were greeted by the sight of Russel, Sky and Dove running like the wind from the direction of the roar.

"Ursa! Ursa!" Russel cried out. Yang grabbed the mohawk teen by the scuff of his shirt and hoisted him up.

"What?!" She demanded.

"There's two Ursa Majors over there. It's got Cardin." Russel blabbered his reply, pointing towards the direction of the Grimm. Pyrrha's eye widened in realisation and she let out a gasp.

"Jaune.." She said. Nero soon realised the same thing.

"Shit, Azur!" He cursed loudly. Ruby turned to Yang with a serious look and gave out her orders

"Yang! You go with Blake and inform Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby said. Yang released Russel and nodded with Blake before rushing to find Goodwitch.

"Rouge, Aurea. Spread out! There might be more Grimms." Nero barked out his order, and the two rushed out as well.

Pyrrha turned to Ren and Nora and relayed the same order. The remaining- Ruby, Weiss, Nero and Pyrrha- rushed to help Cardin.

"Crap! Crap! Crap!"

Cardin was totally shaking in fear. He was left defenseless after his weapon got smacked away by the large Ursa. Pyrrha and the others arrived too late as the Grimm was preparing its attack.

"No!" Pyrrha shouted.

Cardin closed his eyes and braced himself for a lot of pain as the bear Grimm swiped its claw at him.

But it never came.

When the orange-haired teen looked up, he saw Jaune, blocking the Grimm's attack with his shield.

"Jaune..." The bully breathed out in shock. Of all the people to help him, it was the guy who he just beat up a few moments ago. Weiss was preparing her Myrtenaster to help Jaune but Pyrrha held her back.

"Wait!" She said. Weiss was confused but conceded and continued watching Jaune who was unaware of their presence.

As Jaune held his ground, he took the chance the slice the Ursa in the stomach, but it only made the Grimm aggravated and tried to crush the blond. Luckily, he managed to duck and roll away from the attack, and tried to swipe its feet. Unfortunately, a claw strike from midair caught him off guard and hit him. Jaune was thrown far away but managed to get back on his feet, and rushed once more. He tried for a leaping attack but was knocked to the ground by the Ursa Major.

The blond took a glance at the scroll on his wrist, showing his Aura at red level. Blinded by anger, he took another charge at the Grimm, who also dashed towards the blond. He attempted to end the battle, but in his anger, he let his side unprotected from a potentially fatal swipe by the Grimm.

Pyrrha noticed this and held out her arm. Soon, a glow of dark red energy gathered around her arm, which later enveloped Jaune's shield. She raised the shield just enough to block the attack and give Jaune the chance to slash it's head off.

The others meanwhile were stunned as Pyrrha's hand stopped glowing and she gave a smile.

"Uhhh, what?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Did you just..?" Nero said in surprise.

"How did you...?" Weiss asked, equally amazed.

"Well, Ruby has her speed. Nero has his Electrokinesis. You have your Glyphs. My semblance is polarity." The Amazon warrior replied.

"Ohhh, you can control poles." Ruby said in awe, not really knowing the word.

"No, you dunce. It means she has control over magnetism." Weiss corrected.

"I gotta say Pyrrha, that was cool." Nero complimented. Pyrrha gave a smile before walking away.

"Wait, where're you going?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, we gotta tell them what happened." Ruby added excitedly.

"We could. Or we could keep it our little secret." Was all that Pyrrha said before walking away again. Ruby and Weiss smiled at each other in understanding before following Pyrrha.

"Nero, you coming?" Ruby asked Nero, who was staring at Jaune and Cardin.

"Uh, oh yeah. Just a sec." He replied. Nero took a last glance at the two, when he saw Azur coming from the other side. He gave a smile and sighed in relief before following Ruby.

Meanwhile, Jaune who had just killed the Ursa Major approached Cardin and offered him a hand. The bully nervously accepted the offer from his savior when the blond stared at him dead in the eyes.

"Holy crap Jaune." Was all he could say.

"Don't ever mess with my team-my **friend** \- ever again." Jaune said before letting him go and left the scene. Cardin, who remained stunned for a while gave out a sigh in relief before a voice spoke.

"The same goes for me."

Cardin turned back and paled when he saw Azur who was forgotten as he fought the other Ursa elsewhere. His glare gave shivers down Cardin's spine.

"You should be lucky I have enough kindness to spare you a grisly death from a Grimm." He growled. "But if I ever see you bully anyone else, especially one of my kind, I guarantee you that your name won't be able to save your ass, because I will hunt you down."

Cardin can only nod, completely stricken by fear after the incident just now. Azur soon left to meet up with his teammates. And the forest soon fell into silence.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory Rooftop)

Jaune, in his uniform stared sadly at the green lights of Beacon, his eye filled with guilt. After all, he'd abandoned his team for his own selfish purposes. He wouldn't even be surprised if they actually hate him now.

"No Cardin tonight?" A voice spoke, which he recognised as Pyrrha's. "I thought you two were best buds?"

Jaune turned to her in a guilty expression. "Pyrrha... I'm sorry. I was a jerk! You were only trying to be nice, and... I had all this stupid macho stuff in my head-" He apologised.

"Jaune! It's okay." Pyrrha said, giving a sincere smile, which was reciprocated by Jaune. "Our team misses their leader you know." She then walked toward the exit before adding. "You should come down! Ren made pancake~ No syrups though - you can thank Nora for that."

Jaune smiled before holding his arm to reach for Pyrrha. "Wait!" Pyrrha turned around, and Jaune looked sheepish as he continued. "I know I don't deserve it after all that happened, but... would you still be willing to help me... to help me become a better fighter?"

Pyrrha turned her back to Jaune so he did not see her satisfied smile. Then she went up to him and pushed him to the ground.

"Hey!"

"Your stance is all wrong. You need to be wider and lower to the ground." She said in a mocking tone, though he knew that she didn't meant anything by it. When she offered her leader a hand, Jaune graciously accepted and stood up. The two grinned at each other, not caring that their hands are still in contact. "Now, let's try that again."

After that, the two spent their night training under the broken moon of Remnant.

* * *

(With Team NARA)

Team NARA was currently having a conversation as they walked back to their dorm room after dinner.

"Ahhhh, nice to know that everything's all fine now." Rouge sighed happily.

"I'm glad to hear that you've settled things with Cardin. Peacefully." Aurea added.

Azur who was at the back just shrugged. "It was nothing. After all, he got what he deserved, almost getting mauled by an Ursa and all." Everyone laughed at his statement.

"Well, I'm just glad that things have gone back to normal." Nero said. Just as they were about to enter the room, a voice called out for Azur.

"Excuse me! Azur!"

The four turned to see Velvet walking up to them with another girl, presumably her friend. The girl was taller than Velvet (excluding her bunny ears) with brown hair and a wavy lock that was dyed in a gradient, starting from brown and transitioning to caramel. Apart from the uniform, she wore a beret and a pair of sunglasses, obviously for a fashion statement.

"You're the girl from the cafeteria, right?" Nero stated, and Velvet nodded timidly.

"Velvet, what's wrong?" Azur asked, thinking that something happened.

"You know her, Azur?" Aurea asked.

"We talked awhile ago, after I got called to the Headmaster's office." Azur replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry 'bout that one. It was my fault that you got in trouble in the first place ." Velvet bowed as she apologised.

"It's fine Velvet. You didn't do anything wrong." Azur waved off her apology. "By the way, what do you need me for?"

Velvet blinked for a moment before replying. "Oh! I was about to introduce my friend." The girl next to her waved at them, and they waved back. "This is Coco. My team leader."

"Nice to meet you freshies." She greeted. Coco walked towards Azur, staring at him as if analysing his worth. She then let out a flirtatious purr. "So, you're the guy our dear Velvet's been talking about. I almost thought that you don't really exist from the way Velvet describe you as a hunk. Though it seems that she was right this time." She said in an alluring tone befitting of her.

"Coco! I did not say that!" Velvet cried out with a deep blush.

"Really? 'Cause I was sure that you said that he was, and I quote 'my muscular knight with shining armor'." Coco teased the rabbit Faunus who looked even more red.

"No! I did not say that. You're just making things up!" Velvet denied vehemently, but she was blushing so hard you could see steam coming out of her ears. Coco laughed heartily and wrapped her arm around Velvet's shoulders.

"Oh, Velvet. I was just teasing you. No need to get all pouty." She said as the timid girl gave an adorable pout. Coco then looked at Azur once more. "I wanted to say thanks for protecting Velvet here. She's like the little sister of our team, and we felt bad when she got different lunch time than the rest of us. So, seriously thanks."

"Well, it's no problem. We Faunus have to stick together." Azur said with a smile.

The confident leader of Team CFVY just chuckled. "If you say so. Anyway, we have to go. Assignments and everything. You're all welcomed to hang out with us anytime. I'm sure Velvet here would like to know more about her crush here." She ended with a tease directed at Velvet.

"Coco! Stop it!" Velvet cried out again, her face red. The pair waved goodbye at Team NARA before walking to their dorm room. When they were far enough, Rouge started his teasing.

"Dude.." The red-head called out to Azur.

"What?"

"You liiike her~" Rouge teased as he rolled his tongue saying it.

"I'm not sure what you're implying Rouge." Azur huffed.

"I don't hear you denying it, Azur." Rouge continued.

Aurea gave a fangirl squeal. "Awww, that's so cute. Never expected her to be your type Azur. But whatever, I ship it!" She said excitedly.

"Well, looks like our big, bad wolf wants the timid rabbit as his prey." Rouge said.

"I'm telling you Rouge. I don't know what you're implying." The 'big, bad wolf' denied.

Nero shook his head and chuckled. His team really is something. "Alright, guys. That's enough. We got assignments to finish, remember?"

"Ughhhh, do you really have to remind me about that?" Rouge groaned. "You just want to have your date with Ruby again, don't you?"

"For the last time, Rouge. I don't like her like that." Nero denied, but the blush proved otherwise.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll believe that the moment Jaune starts wearing a dress." Rouge saud sarcastically, before he got lunged by an angry Nero, trying to shut him up. Aurea immediately broke the bickering pair apart and went back to their room. After all, they needed their rest, don't they?

* * *

 **Author's Note: Annnnndd DONE! Fuck, this chapter sucks! I don't know about you guys but to me it seems fucking off, and I hate it. But I'd like to know what you guys think. Now that I see some reviews, I'd like to have more please XD. And don't worry, I've already started on Chapter 7, about a quarter done. Next update will prob be next week, if I'm in the mood. So yeah, lemme know what you guys think bout this chap? Good? Bad? Horrible? And do state the reasons pls.**

 **Alright, King of Blacks signing out.**


	7. Ch 7 The Heir and The Heiress

**Author's Note: Hey people! This is King of Blacks, back with yet another chapter for Our Purpose. Yes, I did promise to post this around last week, but honestly I don't really have a legit reason. I just don't have the mood to write, that's it. I'm sure you guys know that this writing stuffs takes time and everything, and most of all, the mood to write, and I just don't have it until recently. So yeah, sorry about that. But enough about that.**

 **Without further ado, lets start with the chapters.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 7: The Heir and the Heiress

It was mid-semester, and the hallway was packed with students as they moved from one class to another. That includes Team NARA who just came out from World History by Doctor Oobleck.

"Ugghhh, I am so screwed." Groaned one Rouge Chevalier who looked depressed. "I'm pretty sure I flunked this test. Oobleck's sooo gonna hound my ass after this."

"Well, it's totally your fault for studying in the last minute." Aurea chastised the redhead. "We warned you already."

"Ugh, no need to remind me." Rouge continued wallowing in despair. "I fucking hate history."

"I'm pretty sure you're not the only one who hates history." Nero added.

"Easy for you to say, Nero." The redhead retorted. "You're practically a prodigy in everything. You can do lots of stuff better than most people."

Nero rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm not that good at everything Rouge. You're better at Weapon Mechanics than the rest of us. And Pyrrha's the strongest fighter in our class."

"Tell that to your perfect test scores, hotshot. And I'm pretty sure you can beat Pyrrha given the effort." Rouge gave his point. "Seriously, Nero. You got the smarts, skills, and looks to actually be the Prince of Beacon. Hell, I'm surprised that you didn't even notice your fan club."

Okay, that actually made him stop on his track. "Fan club? I have a fan club?"

The three members of Team NARA gave a blank look before pointing at a group of giggling girls who was staring at him lustfully. Just as he was about to give a rebuttal, someone bumped into him harshly.

"Hey, watch it!" He cried out. He saw that it was Weiss who did it, and she did not even have the decency to apologise. And she looked pissed at something.

'What's crawling up her ass now huh?' He thought with a scowl.

"Nero!" A cry from Ruby snapped him out of his thoughts. When the young girl approached him, she apologised in Weiss's stead. "Sorry 'bout Weiss, Nero. She's been kinda moody this past few days."

"So that justify bumping into me like a rag doll or something?" He muttered with a frown.

"Don't worry 'bout it Nero. She's probably stressed from all the tests and everything." Yang assured the heir.

"Still doesn't excuse acting like a bitch." He said bitterly.

"Nero, that's rude." Aurea said sternly.

"So bumping into people and not apologising is not rude?" Aurea gave no reply. "Just so you know, I've done nothing to make her pissed."

"No one said you did." Aurea said.

"The look on your eyes said enough." Nero retorted. "You think I pissed her off."

"Maybe, you pissed her off unconsciously?" Azur suggested.

Nero rolled his eyes and replied, "Doubt it. I acted like I usually did with her. Anyway, we're late for Combat Studies." The seven students quickly made their way to the amphitheater, lest they face the wrath of Glynda Goodwitch.

(Location: Amphitheater)

Weiss sat along with her teammates during Combat Studies, though her mood was less than pleasant. The reason?

'Urgh, I can't believe Nero's beating me in every subject! I'll show that guy!' She reminded herself of every moment the Carbone heir outclassed her.

* * *

 _"Alright, class. I have marked your test papers on the Faunus Revolution, and while some of you have performed excellently, others have...less than adequate scores which I would like to talk about." Doctor Oobleck said as he dashed through the classroom giving their papers back._

 _"Ah, Miss Schnee. Excellent, simply excellent. 95 out of 100. Some inconsistencies but well done." He praised Weiss who held her test paper with pride. She is definitely gonna ace the test. That is, until..._

 _"Mister Carbone! You got the highest score out of everyone. 98 out of 100. Extraordinary work, Mister Carbone." The doctor said to Nero who looked sheepish while the others stared at him with awe. Weiss couldn't help but grit her teeth at his accomplishment._

* * *

 _The next one was during Weapon Practice class. The instructor, Professor Ranger was instructing them on the use of rifles._

 _"Now kids, I'm sure you're thinking on 'why the hell do we have to learn to use this weapon? I got mine.' " The professor lectured in a no-nonsense tone. "Well, I'm here to inform you that you're wrong. Not all missions are suited with your weapons. Sometime, one mission might need some long range support, which I'm pretty sure only some of you brats have. And sometimes it might need a more...direct approach. But enough talk. Once I call your name, come forward and lets test your aim with this baby over here."_

 _He showed a Standard Atlesian Plasma Rifle. "I will put up several targets and your job is to shoot as many as you can, as accurate as you can, within 30 seconds. Now, Belladona, come forward."_

 _Students after students were called and tested on their marksmanship. Some performed well, others performed...slightly less well. And when Weiss' name was called.._

 _"Schnee, you're up next." Weiss frowned for a moment, but quickly shook it off, before approaching the firing range. She took the rifle and took position. When the instructor saw she was ready. He projected the target from a hologram. "You got 20 targets and 30 seconds starting...now!"_

 _Bang. She kept her eyes on the sight as she switched from target to target. She might not use a rifle, but her sister Winter has taught her enough . When the time was up, her score was announced._

 _"20 out of 20 targets. 9 fatal shots. 7 crippling shots. 4 regularshots. Total point: 225 points." A robotuc voice spoke._

 _She held herself with pride before shooting Nero a smug look, daring him to challenge her. He returned the look and went to the shooting range when his name was called. Weiss smug turned to shock when the results was announced._

 _"20 out of 20 targets. 11 fatal shots. 7 crippling shots. 2 regular shots. Total point: 245 points."_

 _Weiss clenched her fist in frustration as she watched Nero congratulated by his team. He really trying to mess with her._

 _Of course, both of their score was plowed through by Ruby, but that was a given considering that she uses a sniper rifle._

* * *

Yeah, her grudge sounds petty. But this is Weiss, the girl who's pride as a Schnee trumps over all. And if there's something that a Schnee is supposed to be, it is to be perfect in absolutely everything. The fact that Nero was the heir of the Schnee's biggest rival company only further adds to her frustration. While it may seem childish to others, it was enough to make the cold-hearted girl seethe in abject fury. But before she could drown herself in more anger, Professor Goodwitch spoke.

"...And the winner is Blake Belladona." She said as Blake thriumphs over her opponent, Rouge.

"Godammit, this is so not my lucky day." Rouge mumbled as he panted.

"Quite the performance, Miss Belladona. I'm expecting great things from you." She praised the enigmatic member of Team RWBY. She turned to Rouge with an unamused look. "Mister Chevalier, I advise you to not play around during your fight. The battlefield is not a place to fool around after all."

"Right, noted." He gave a thumbs up as an affirmative before giving a handshake to Blake as a sign of respect. "Good match, Blake."

"You too." She gave a curt reply.

When the two fighters returned to their seat, Glynda continued. "Now, for our last match of the day, are there any volunteers?" A hand immediately raised up, namely Weiss. "Miss Schnee. Very well, would you like me to choose your opponent or..."

"Actually, I would like to fight..."She paused for a bit before pointing at Nero, who looked slightly surprised. "...Nero."

"Is that okay with you, Mister Carbone?" Glynda asked.

Nero's surprise was gone and he narrowed his eyes at Weiss before nodding. The two walked down to the Arena while their friends stared at them with worry.

"Guys, is everything okay with Weiss and Nero?" Jaune asked to the other members of Team RWBY and NARA.

"I was afraid this was gonna happen." Aurea sighed, getting looks from her friends. "It seems Weiss is angry at Nero for some reason."

"So, it's not just the stress or anything? I mean, their rivalries can't be THAT bad, right?" Rouge asked. Aurea's silence answered it all.

"It's just a matter of time before they start fighting again." Azur said.

Down in the arena, the two heirs locked eyes on one another.

"I don't know what your problem is." Nero said with narrowed eyes. "But if you want to be just like the old times..." He brought his sword forward, pointing it to Weiss. "...Then I'll give you the old times."

"Just shut up and let's see whose stronger among the two of us." Weiss sneered confidently as she took out Myrtenaster and fall into her stance. Nero did the same. When it seems the two combatants was ready, Goodwitch gave the signal.

"Combatants ready?" When the two students nodded, she paused for a few monent, "...Fight!"

With a burst of speed, Weiss immediately dashed off and tried stabbing Nero in the chest. Nero quickly dogded the attack and countered with a slash. Weiss performed a backflip to evade before conjuring a Glyph and fired a barrage of ice crystals at the heir. He used his massive sword to block the onslaughts before activating the Fire Dust in his sword to send a wave of bursting flame to Weiss.

Seeing the attack coming from a mile away, she merely sidestepped it, but she was caught off guard, when Nero, in a surprising show of speed, charged up to her before striking her with an upwards slash, which sent her flying a few meters away and onto the ground. When she stood back up, she gritted her teeth in anger and ran towards Nero, attacking with combos of stabs and slashes.

Unfortunately for her, Nero managed to block all of it, which further infuriate her. She took a step back, before creating multiple Glyphs surrounding Nero. Weiss made one more Glyph midair and used it as a boost to create a quick barrage of attacks on Nero which was surprised by her speed. However, just as she ended her attack, Nero has already recovered and fired a ball of lightning point blank into her face, sending the white-haired girl careening against the floor.

'Urgh, how did I get myself overwhelmed this quick?' Weiss thought in frustration as she struggled to stand up after the surprise counter by the Carbone scion. Nero, having had enough, advanced towards Weiss and attempted to strike her, but she managed to block it with her rapier. The two held off on a battle of strength as they struggled with their blades against the other.

"I won't lose to the likes of you, Nero." Weiss growled.

"I don't even know what I did to piss you off." Nero said.

"You won't understand." Was all she replied.

Nero, who was obviously superior in strength, swung his blade and disarmed Weiss from her weapon. He then finished her off with a barrage of strikes coated with electricity. Weiss instantly fell to the ground, defeated.

"Due to Aura Depletion, the winner is Nero Carbone." Glynda announced. "Well done, Mister Carbone. And with that, our session is over." Just in time, the bell rang, signifying the end of class.

Nero went to Weiss and offered her a hand as a sign of respect, but Weiss was caught up in her anger. She swatted his hand away, took her rapier and stormed out of the amphitheater. Nero was having none of it. He may be patient, but he could only take so much disrespect from the Schnee heiress. He too ran out of the arena to catch up with her. The others saw this and followed suit.

* * *

(Location: Courtyard)

"Hey! Weiss!" Nero shouted towards Weiss, who ignored him and kept moving. Eventually, he managed to catch up with her and forced her to look at him.

"Weiss! The fuck's wrong with you?" He asked angrily. "You've been nothing but antagonistic towards me lately."

"Antagonistic? You're the one who has been antagonistic on me!" Weiss cried out.

"I've been nothing but nice to you the past few months!" Nero retorted. "Is that what you call being antagonistic?!"

"Well, you've been trying to steal my spot at the top of the Class!" Weiss spat.

"What?! That was all this about?!" He was outraged by this. "You're pissed at me 'cause of a fucking class ranking?" At this point, a crowd has formed around the two.

"Well, that class ranking is important to me. Someone like you wouldn't understand." She sneered with malice.

"Oh, is this 'bout those assholes of a family you have?" Nero mocked sarcastically.

Weiss gaped in shock before turning back to fury. "How dare you! My families are nothing like that."

"Get over yourself, Weiss. The Schnees are jerkbags who deserves to die for all I care! Especially that old bastard of a grandfather you have! Look what he did to my mother!"

"Well, it was that whore's fault for getting herself knocked up!"

 ***SLAP***

The echoes of a slap was heard even in the open courtyard. Weiss, the victim of the slap cried out in pain, but when she tried to glare at Nero, she paled instead.

Nero was giving a murderous glare and emitting his killing intent on Weiss. Safe to say, he was fucking pissed off, no scratch that, he was outraged beyond reasons. Weiss quickly realised her mistakes and tried to apologise.

"Nero, I'm sor-" Keyword being TRIED. Nero interrupted her by smashing the concrete just next to her with his sword, and she let out a frightened yelp. He then glared at her murderously.

"I don't care what you're gonna say." He spat with such venom, she could practically feel it. "You've just crossed the line, bitch. I hope you fall off the fucking cliff and die as Beowolves eat your fucking corpse."

He could see the hurt in her eyes, but he didn't care. He turned back and left the scene, leaving the courtyard silent. She was totally shocked and flabbergasted. But soon, guilt sets in as she remembered her exact words.

'I didn't mean it.' She kept justifying her words, but the damage was done. When she turned, she paled even further by the sights of her friends staring at her with mixed reaction.

Ruby, Nora and Jaune held expressions of shock. Pyrrha, Yang and Blake only had blank looks, though she could feel the disappoinment in their eyes. Ren, Azur and Rouge wore frowns on their faces, but Aurea's expression scared her the most. She was angry, not as much as Nero, but angry nonetheless.

The blonde sister figure of Team NARA walked towards the heiress and gave her another hard slap, but she was too scared to even cry out in pain.

"Do you know what you just did?" Aurea asked with a glare.

"I didn't mean it. I just slipped up and-" Weiss tried to explain but it fell on deaf ears.

"Shut it, Weiss. I'm not hearing any excuses." Aurea hissed. "You just called Nero's mother a fucking whore. Do you have a death wish or what?" Weiss remained silent and looked down in shame. She knew how protective Nero was with his families and friends, especially his mother. She felt tears build up in her eyes as the guilt built up inside her threatening to burst.

"You know how sensitive he is about his mother and there you go calling her that." The blonde scolded Weiss like a little kid. "God, and all of this 'cause of a petty grudge. I thought you were better than this, Weiss." The white-haired girl did not care anymore and let herself cry. Every word Aurea said were true and that made it hurt even more.

"I don't care anymore. I want you to go and apologise to him until he accepts. Now." She gave a glare to Weiss who was flabbergasted by her request.

"N-now? But he-" She tried to speak but was cut off.

"I. DON'T. CARE." Aurea spat acidly. "You brought this on yourself, Weiss. Those five years of arguing was already stupid enough, but this?! Godammit Weiss, you're his FUCKING COUSIN!"

"WHAT?!" Everyone else exclaimed at her outburst.

"Wowowowow. Hang on a sec." Rouge interjected in surprise. "Did you just say that Weiss and Nero are fucking cousins?!"

"Yes, I said they're cousins. Is that a problem?" The elder blonde glared at Rouge who immediately put his arms in surrender and backed off. She then turned back to the real guilty party. "I don't care what you do to get his forgiveness, Weiss. Whether you beg on his knees or god forbid, jump off the cliff like he said, I want to hear him accepting your apology. Got it?"

Weiss can only nod meekly. Aurea turned her back and walked away, but not before leaving a few words.

"I'm disappointed in you Weiss." With that, she left the courtyard. Azur and Rouge, followed suit and broke up the crowd.

"Weiss, you fucked this one up yourself." Rouge said before leaving.

Team JNPR only stared at her in sadness before walking away. Weiss stared at her team desperately, searching for some kind of support, but it was for naught. Yang and Blake shook their heads in disappointment and left her. Ruby stayed for a longer while, staring at her in pity.

"I-I hope you can fix things up, Weiss." Ruby muttered sympathetically before walking away. The heiress felt her heart drop and knees weak as her partner left. She fell to her knees, and for the first time ever, Weiss Schnee felt truly alone.

(Location: Forest near Beacon)

*SLASH*

That was what Nero has been doing after his outburst at the courtyard. He needed a way to vent out his anger and he figured slashing down trees to bits and pieces would be a good idea.

"Fucking bitch!" He screamed to no one. "How dare she insult mom like that?!" He swung gus sword to another unfortunate tree, cutting it down in one go. The heir gritted his teeth, his anger not dissipating at all.

"She doesn't know anything at all" He cried out in anger. "How my family suffered 'cause of the Schnee! How mom suffered 'cause of that old bastard! SHE. KNOWS. NOTHING!" With each syllable, he striked down more trees, eventually clearing the area of any vegetations. When he found nothing to express his anger at, he simply screamed out to the sky in frustration.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

The others have returned back to their respective rooms, their expressions glum after what happened just now.

"Aurea..." Azur called out. "What're you gonna do about those two? Do you really think that Nero will forgive Weiss just like that?"

"Truth to be told, not really." Aurea admitted. "I don't think Nero would want to be anywhere near Weiss anytime soon. He really can hold a grudge against someone."

"No shit. He looked like he was about to kill her on the spot just now." Rouge added. "Still, I'm curious 'bout one thing." The two looked at him expectantly. "I'm sure you know. How did all this started? You said they're cousins, and yet until few months ago, they looked like they'd rather die than have a conversation with one another."

"That's another thing. We don't really know anything about their past other than the fact that they're apparently cousins." Well, to be fair, none of them really divulge much of their pasts, seeing as they never have a need to. "You mind telling us about it?"

Aurea took a few seconds to think before sighing. "Well, I guess it can't be avoided anymore. Alright, I'll tell you guys about it, but let's call the others first. I don't want to tell the story twice."

A few moments later, everyone, excluding Nero and Weiss for obvious reasons, was gathered at Team NARA's room.

"So, what's with calling all of us here?" Yang inquired.

"Is this about...Nero and Weiss?" Ruby asked softly. She looked conflicted, but who wouldn't after seeing two of their best friends fighting.

"Well, the three of us had a discussion, and..." Aurea trailed off before continuing. "..I think everyone here deserve to know the truth. About what happened between Nero and Weiss."

Everyone's eye widened in surprise. "Are you sure?" Jaune asked.

The surrogate sister of Team NARA nodded. "There's nothing else we could do to make things worse, so I figured that this is a good time to tell everyone the truth."

"Well, if you say so Aurea." Pyrrha said in agreement.

Aurea stared at everyone who was waiting for her story. "You might want to take a seat. This might take a while."

She took a deep breath and exhaled, before recounting the history of the two heirs.

"So, me, Nero and his twin sister Noir met Weiss ten years ago in a playground. That time, we never cared about our duties and everything. We didn't even know about our families' rivalry until we were told. But we didn't care, so we stayed friends for quite a while." Aurea described the first time they met Weiss. "Weiss, that time was actually quite shy. She doesn't actively join in like the twins, but she had fun. And most of all, she was very close to Nero."

"Wait, what?" They asked in surprise. Those two were close?

"Yes, I know. Big surprise there, but yes. Nero and Weiss was closer to each other than even me and Noir. I guess, Weiss thought of Nero as an older brother of sorts. She had this look of admiration whenever she looks at Nero." For some reason, Ruby had a frown on her face as Aurea spoke of their relationship.

'What's wrong with me? I'm not jealous...right?' The hooded girl thought, but she quickly shook it off to concentrate on the story.

"So, what happened? What made them change?" Ren asked.

"Well, you could blame it on puberty. Or you could blame it on their _grandfather._ " Aurea spat the word as if it was poison. "The first head of the Schnee Dust Company, Albus Schnee."

"Albus Schnee, founded the company just after the Great War, he was the first man to form a Dust Mining Company, giving him the title of Father of Dusts." Rouge noted almost mechanically.

"Right, and because of that, the Schnee quickly became famous all around Remnant. After all, he was one of the biggest contributor of peace between the Kingdoms, by establishing the CCT Tower, which is our main communication source." Aurea added, before her expression turned into a frown. "But above all, he's a ruthless businessmen who wants nothing but absolute superiority of the Schnee. He emphasises on the purity of the Schnee bloodline, even to the point of marrying his family members with one another."

Everyone turned green in shock, and disgust. They know that in the old times, noblemen will have their children marry other nobles of equal or higher stature to retain their nobility, but to marry your own relatives?

"By family members, you mean how close?" Azur asked in mild curiosity.

"At best, distant relatives that you never even know. At worst, your first cousin." They blanched at Aurea's blunt response. "Anyway, only one person has ever broke that rule, and that was Gwynnevere Schnee, Nero's mother. And as you can see, Albus is not someone to let it slide. He forced her to make a choice. To have her inheritance cut off and disowned from the family, or...to abort the children inside of her."

Almost everyone gasped in shock at the man's action. Azur growled in anger while Rouge muttered curses under his breath.

"Aunt Gwen, that's what I call her, obviously took the latter. She moved away from the Schnee mansion, and married Nero's father, Schwarz."

"So, is that the reason why the Schnee hates the Carbone?" This time, it was Blake who asked.

Aurea nodded and continued. "That, and the Carbone is the biggest contender for the Schnee for the number one Dust suppliers in Remnant. And because of that, Albus did everything he can to make the Carbone suffer. Destroying Dust shipments, Sabotaging Dust shops who gets supplies from the Carbone, sometimes running them out of business. He'll do anything to cement his position as the top."

"Pah, all of that hatred simply out of greed. Disgusting." Azur spat bitterly.

"But wasn't the CEO of the Company now Weiss' dad, Jacques Schnee?" Rouge asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's true, but Albus still holds power as the head of the family. And as much as Jacques is the CEO, he is merely the front of the SDC while Albus handles most of the affair. That's why his influence still remains large." At this point, Pyrrha interjected.

"So, you said that Albus was the reason Nero and Weiss became enemies. How did that happen? You said that they were close yourself."

"Yes, they were close. But that changed as they grew older." Aurea explained in a somber tone. "They were subjected to their duties as heir for the company when they were ten, and as such, they were prohibited from contacting one another, being rivals and all. Of course, at first they didn't really care. But as the time passes, the pressure quickly got to them, and they started distancing from each other. It got worse when Weiss' sister, Winter renounced her status as the heiress to join the military, leaving Weiss to be the first in line. They started arguing over things. The last straw happened when they were twelve. Nero found out the truth about his mother's exile and the Schnee's act of sabotage. He knew his mother felt that it was her fault the compamy was suffering and you guys know how he is if someone threatens the people he cares. He became angry at the Schnee for what they did. As for Weiss, it was the White Fangs."

Blake unconsciously turned her head away in shame hearing the name. Aurea then said, "When the White Fangs started targeting the Schnees, Jacques grew stressed at the situation and sometimes...vent out his anger on Weiss." Aurea's voice started cracking up. "And eventually, they just couldn't handle the pressure. They had this big argument concerning their families and broke their ties. From then, every time they meet, it was just constantly mocking the other and proving who's better."

When Aurea finished her story, the mood of the room was clearly somber. Ruby and Nora was sobbing while being held by Yang and Ren respectively. Even the others had tears streaming down their eyes. Everyone felt anger and disgust at Albus for his treatment of the Carbones, and they felt pity for Nero and Weiss, who were just victims caught up in the crossfire.

"Why does this happen to them?" Ruby asked between sobs.

"It wasn't fair that they were subjected to all of that, but it's how reality works." Rouge replied. When everyone finally calmed down, he decided to throw the big question. "So, what're we gonna do with those two?"

"We leave them alone." Aurea replied with no hesitation.

"Um, are you sure, Aurea? If we don't do anything, they might never-" Yang spoke, but was interrupted by Aurea.

"They might never make up? Probably, but at the same time, this is their problem, and as much as we are their friends, they need to solve this on their own." She reasoned. "I know it's hard, and even I wanted to just go in between those two, but this is for their own good."

With Aurea having voiced her decision, all of them just decided to agree, seeing as she was much closer to the two than them. With their business finished, Team JNPR and Team RWBY went back to their rooms.

* * *

(With Weiss)

Meanwhile, the Schnee heiress has been strolling the campus searching for Nero, intent on apologising for her actions. But after almost an hour of searching, she simply gave up.

'What's the use anyway? Is he even going to forgive me?' She thought depressingly. 'I mean, I've been nothing but a bitch to him.'

Just as she walked back to her dorm room, she collided with someone, who just so happen to be the gut she's been looking for.

"Nero..." She spoke meekly, afraid of his reaction.

"What do you want, Schnee?" He sneered harshly.

Weiss flinched at his tone, but straightened herself up. "I-I just want to apologise about...my actions just now."

Nero remained silent with his scowl, before walking away from the girl, seemingly ignoring her words."

"Wait, where are you going?" Weiss cried out.

"Somewhere without you." Nero growled.

"But, but what about my-?" She stammered but a glare from Nero made her stop.

"What about it?" He asked menacingly. "Do you think I freaking care about your goddamn apology?"

Weiss remained silent, looking down the ground in shame.

"You will never understand how I felt everytime I see my mother crying because of that old bastard's greed." He hissed to the girl. "I don't care if you tried to beg for my forgiveness or anything. I will never forgive you!"

Weiss initially felt hurt at his statement but eventually, a fire of anger rose from within and was unleashed.

"Oh yeah! What about me then?" She screamed in anger, surprising the heir. "You're not the only one suffering. I've been alone all this time because you abandoned me! You were my friend and you abandoned me! You broke your promise! Do you really think you're the only one who's been a mess because of our grandfather? I lived with him! Get over yourself Nero!"

And with that, she stomped away from Nero, who looked shocked before returning to his frown and left the scene in the opposite direction.

(Location: Balcony)

Weiss ran away, her emotion currently a mess. She soon found herself in the balcony. She went to the edge, leaned on the railings and hugged her knees. She was angry that Nero never even considered how she felt all those years. Even when she obviously messed up few hours ago, she still felt that he is being too selfish. But most of all, she was still hurt by Nero's words.

'That idiot. Thinking that he is so important.' She thought with a frown. 'He's not the only one suffering here.'

Unfortunately for Weiss, her alone time was interrupted by a voice calling out for her.

"Weiss!"

She looked up to see Ruby, with her goofy grin looking at her.

"What do you want, Ruby?" The white-haired girl turned her head away. "And how did you know I'm here anyway?"

"Ummm, BFF instincts?" Ruby chuckled nervously.

"...I thought Nero was your best friend." Weiss said bitterly.

Ruby smile sadly at the girl before sitting next to her.

"Weiss, both of you are my best friends." She said, and Weiss couldn't help but smile. Her expression quickly changed back to sadness.

"Seriously Ruby. What do you want?" She asked once more.

"Is it wrong to talk to my friend?" She retorted.

"Not really. It's just...I thought you guys're gonna hate me after what happened." She muttered sadly.

"Weiss, we never hated you. Well, I guess Aurea was a little bit angry, but she's okay now." Weiss just remained silent. "Ummm, Weiss?"

"What is it, Ruby?" The heiress looked at her leader.

"...Do you hate Nero?" Ruby asked.

Weiss took a few moments before giving her answer.

"No. I've never hated him. All these times, I've never hated him. He was my first friend. How could I hate him?"

"Then why are you always arguing with him?" Ruby asked curiously.

"...I-I.." She struggled to voice out, even though she knew the reason. Eventually, she calmed her nerves and spoke. "I...I was jealous of him."

"...Wait, what?" Ruby thought she heard wrong. "You're jealous of Nero?"

"Yeah. Everytime I look at Nero's family, they just looked so...happy." Weiss admitted. "And it just made me feel inadequate. Everytime I went home, all I can see is my grandfather arguing with my dad, and him scolding me for everything I did. It's just infuriating that his family is all happy while mine's suffering."

"...Have you ever told him about this?" The hooded girl asked.

"Of course not. It doesn't matter, anyway." Weiss muttered.

"Of course it matters. Surely Nero would understand if you tell him." Ruby suggested.

Weiss only shook her head. "You don't understand, Ruby. Things won't just change just because I told him that. Just like how we couldn't stop being friends even if we became friends."

"You never know if you don't try, Weiss." Ruby said. After a few seconds of silence, Ruby stood up and walked away, but before she left, she said a few words.

"Weiss, I really hope you can patch things up with Nero. I know that deep down, you never hated Nero, and I think it's the same with Nero."

As Ruby walked away from the heiress, she was left thinking of the words her leader said.

* * *

(With Nero)

After his argument with Weiss, Nero has been wandering around the hallway, lost in his thoughts. He was thinking on Weiss' outburst before leaving.

'She suffered because of her grandfather? What does she mean?' He thought. 'Pah, she's just trying to make things up. But her words just kept ringing in my head. Breaking our promise? What promise?'

"Having a rough day?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. Nero turned back to see Ozpin, with his signature cane and cup of coffee.

"Professor Ozpin." Nero greeted before sighing. "And I guess you could say that."

"I've been informed of your outburst with Ms. Schnee at the courtyard a while ago." Ozpin informed bluntly.

"Well then. I guess you would understand what my problem is." The skunk-haired teen said sullenly.

"Quite frankly, yes. But I don't see why you should be angry about it." The headmaster spoke.

"Of course I would be mad! She insulted my mother. And on top of that, her family has been making mine suffer. It's reasonable for me to be-" His outburst was cut off by the professor.

"But was she the one who made your family suffer?" Nero flinched at his statement. He had no response to that. "I see no reason why you should be angry at her for something your grandfather did."

"Well, uhm I, wait. How did you know about that?" Nero asked. He was pretty sure that his relation to the Schnees was kept away from the public's eye.

"Do you really think I became a headmaster because of my coffee drinking skills, Mr. Carbone?" Ozpin joked. "I am quite acquainted with your father and uncle. Of course, Schwarz has informed me about the incident."

"Oh."

"Back to my point. From what I have observed, your feud with Weiss is nothing more than a misplaced aggresion against the Schnee, and her way to vent out after the abuse given by her grandfather." Ozpin lectured. "Now, I believe you can sovle this problem on your own, but before I leave, ask yourself this." Nero looked at the headmaster expectantly. "Have you ever thought of her feelings in this matter?"

Ozpin then left Nero confused, thinking of his advice.

'Her feelings? How am I supposed to know? As far as I'm concerned, she hates me, which is the same with me...right?'

(Later...)

Nero was currently inside the gymnasium for his usual training routine, although he was not really into it due to being distracted by everything that happened just now.

'Weiss' feelings on this matter? What does she really feel anyway?' He thought as he performed his katas on a training dummy. 'And what she said just now really got to me. I never remembered any promise at all.'

Frustrated by his lack of progress, he threw a hard, electric-coated punch on the training dummy which got destroyed in an instant. He was surprised by his strength before sighing and walked to retrieve another training dummy. Just as he fell into his stances, he analysed his thoughts.

'Everytime I argued with her, it was mostly me insulting her and her family.' He realised sullenly. 'And I was the one who started everything. Never her. I didn't even care what she was going to say. It was all about me lashing out at her.'

Nero began to feel remorse as his actions in the past began to sink in. All this times, the feud between him and Weiss seemed more one-sided than ever. Remembering Weiss' expression of hurt made him feel guilty.

'God, I'm such an asshole. Ozpin was right. I never took into consideration of Weiss's feeling on this. I was just being some selfish brat.' He sulked internally, feeling guilty of his actions. 'But what promise? When did I make a promise to her-'

Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind. Specifically, it was when he first met Weiss.

 **(Flashback: Ten years ago)**

 _"Catch me if you can!" A young Nero taunted childishly as he raced towards the playground._

 _"Nero! Wait for me!" A young girl cried out. She was wearing a white sundress and had black hair shaped into a twin tails. Nero eventually stopped and the girl caught up with him, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. "That was mean, Nero."_

 _"Hehehe, sorry Noir. I got a little bit too excited." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Noir huffed and turned away._

 _"Hey, don't you forget about me." A voice called out revealing a young Aurea. She was next to a man with blond hair, wearing the Atlas Specialist uniform._

 _Noir immediately hugged the young blonde, and whined like a kid (which they are)._

 _"Aurea! Nero's being mean to me." She said while putting up fake tears._

 _Aurea just chuckled and hugged her back in comfort. "Don't worry, Noir. I'll make sure Nero gets less cookies at home later." Noir immediately brightened up while Nero deflated._

 _"Hey, that's not fair!" He protested. The two girls giggled while the man laughed._

 _"Now, girls. Enough messing with Nero." The man, Khristos Gabriels spoke. "I want you kids to behave while playing around here, is that understood?" The children gave a huge grin and nodded. "Now, your father said to be back by 4. Aurea, you're in charge, okay?_

 _His daughter nodded, and he gave a bright smile. "Now, play along."_

 _With that, the kids immediately ran off to the playground and Khristos watched them with a smile._

 _"Hey, what should we play?" Aurea asked._

 _"Hmmmm, maybe the monkey bars?" Nero suggested, but Noir disagreed._

 _"Nooo, I want the swings!" She said._

 _"I want Monkey bars!" Nero said, narrowing his eyes at his twin sister.._

 _"Swings!"_

 _"Monkey bars!"_

 _"Swings!"_

 _"Monkey bars!"_

 _"GUYS!" Aurea broke up the argument. "Dad said to behave!" With a stern glare, the twins cowered and shut up. "Now, how about this? We play the swings first, then the monkey bars." She compromised. The two just shrugged and agreed._

 _As they went to the swings, Noir immediately occupied one of it. "Nero, give me a push!" She ordered her brother. He rolled his eyes but complied nonetheless. He gave a boost so Noir began swinging upwards and continued pushing until she was almost parallel to the ground._ **(Exaggeration, but it works :p)**

 _"Higher! Higher!' The younger girl said happily._

 _Aurea crossed her arms and scowled. "If you were any higher, you would be flying, Noir."_

 _Nero laughed at this. Then he noticed someone. It was a girl with white hair around their age, wearing a white dress. She was sitting on one of the swings, but she seemed lonely, even with the two burly men in black by her sides._

 _"Who's that girl?" He asked, pointing to the girl. Aurea and Noir ,who stopped swinging, looked at the direction he was pointing._

 _"I don't know. But she seemed lonely." Noir stated._

 _"Well, maybe we should play with her." Nero suggested excitedly._

 _"But, what about the big guys next to her?" Aurea said nervously._

 _"Eh, they probably don't care anyway." Nero dismissed offhandedly. The girls eventually nodded and approached the girl._

 _"Hey! Whitey!" Nero called out. The girl was shocked at first, before looking at other direction before pointing to herself._

 _"Are you...calling for me? She asked in a polite tone._

 _"Of course! Is there any other girl with white hair around here?" Nero scoffed, causing the girl to blush._

 _"Sorry, I'm not used to people approaching me yet." She admitted bashfully._

 _"It's 'kay. Hey, you wanna play with us? You looked like you needed a friend to play with." Nero asked with a smile._

 _The girl brightened up. "Really?! You would play with me?" She asked hopefully._

 _"Of course. Everyone needs a friend to play." This time, it was Noir who replied. She then offered a hand to her. "So, how about it?"_

 _The girl looked up at her bodyguards and asked. "Can I?"_

 _The man was silent for a few seconds before replying. "As long as you stay within the perimeters of the playground, Ms. Schnee."_

 _With the approval, she took Noir's hand and walked away from the swings with Nero, Noir and Aurea._

 _"By the way. What's your name?" Aurea asked curiously._

 _"...Weiss." The girl, now named Weiss, replied timidly._

 _"Nice to meet you, Weiss. I'm Aurea." The blonde introduced herself. She then pointed to Nero and Noir. "And this is Nero and Noir. They're twins."_

 _"Both of you are twins?" Weiss gasped in shock. "But you don't look alike."_

 _"Yeah. A lot of people said that, but we're really twins." Nero admitted before leaning to Weiss and whispered, "Don't believe whatever Noir said. I'm the mature one of the two."_

 _"Hey, I heard that!" Noir cried out, puffing her cheeks. Weiss could not help but giggle._

 _"See, it's nice seeing you smile." Nero complimented Weiss, who blushed. "You should do it more often."_

 _"You really think so?" She asked meekly._

 _The skunk-haired boy gave a goofy grin. "Of course I do. You have a pretty smile. But enough talking. Let us show you how to play."_

 _So for the next few hours, the four children played all sorts of game at the playground, from the swings, monkeybars, slides, even the sandbox. Weiss truly had fun that day. Especially with Nero who kept trying to show off only to fumble, resulting in a few hilarious moments, she could never forget. But eventually, the fun had to end._

 _"Weiss, it's time to leave." A female voice called out. It was a girl, presumably in her teens, with long white hair like Weiss, shaped into a ponytail. She was wearing a light blue dress in the same fashion as Weiss._

 _"Winter!" Weiss cried out, running up to Winter and giving her a hug._

 _"Did you have fun playing?" She asked with a smile._

 _"Yeah! I even made some friends." She dragged Winter to her new friends who was playing on the sandbox. "Winter! These are my friends."_

 _The three waved politely, a gesture that she returned. She then kneeled down to level their height. "Hello, you for playing with Weiss today. My name's Winter, her sister. Would you like to introduce yourselves?"_

 _"Of course. I'm Nero, and this is my twin sister, Noir." He pointed to Noir, who bowed." And this is Aurea."_

 _Winter instantly frowned. She felt familiar with that name. "Um, forgive me for being rude. By any chance, are you related to the Carbones?"_

 _Nero had a scowl on his face, but replied. "Yes, my name is Nero Carbone."_

 _"I see." She said thoughfully. After a few moments of silence, she stood back up and said, "I'm sorry, but you cannot play with Weiss anymore."_

 _"What?!" The four exclaimed in surprise._

 _"You can't just make us stop playing with Weiss!" Nero said angrily._

 _"Yeah! She's our friend. We're not leaving her." Noir added with a scowl . Aurea gave a nod in agreement._

 _"I'm sorry. But this is not your fault." Winter sighed, getting confused looks from the four. "It's our family history actually."_

 _"What's wrong with our families?" Weiss asked innocently._

 _"Well, Nero and Noir here are part of the Carbone family, the second biggest Dust Mining Company in Remnant..." She explained. "...and biggest rival to the Schnee Dust company, which is owned by our family."_

 _"You're a Schnee, Weiss?" Nero asked in awe. Weiss nodded with a blush._

 _Winter smiled at the two before continuing her explanation. "Well, as you can see, our family relationship is less than...amicable at this moment due to certain events in the past."_

 _"A-mi-ke-bel?" Noir tilted her head in confusion. Winter chuckled as she realised that she was talking to a bunch of kids who obviously wouldn't understand difficult words._

 _"It means friendly." Winter explained. "Now, as I was saying. Our families aren't exactly nice to each other, and I'm afraid that things may get worse if the three of you became friends with Weiss."_

 _"But wouldn't it be better if we became friends with Weiss?" Nero asked innocently. "That way, our families can also be friends."_

 _Winter shook her head at his naivete. "The world doesn't work that way, Nero. Things don't just change for the better just because you're friends."_

 _Noir and Weiss started tearing up. "But I don't wanna leave Weiss." Noir sobbed._

 _Weiss nodded and stared at her sister, sniffling. "Please let me play with them, Winter."_

 _Winter bit her lip as Weiss stared at her with pleading eyes. Eventually, she gave up. "Fine. You can play with them next time"_

 _The kids immediately cheered up, but Winter raised her hand, indicating that she was not done yet. "But...you must not let father or grandfather know about this. Keep it a secret, okay?" They immediately made zipping motions on their mouth, making her smile. "Now, Weiss. We have to go. You still have your lessons waiting for you."_

 _Weiss turned to her newfound friends and stared at them shyly. "Ummm, let's play again next time, okay?"_

 _"Of course, Weiss! We're friends now." Nero said with a goofy grin. He then raised his pinkie finger, making her confused._

 _"Ummm, what's this?" The younger Schnee asked._

 _"It's a pinkie promise. Just do it. Aurea, Noir, you too." The three followed him and wrapped their pinkies around each other. "Let's promise each other. We'll always be friend . Forever. And nothing will ever stop us. Not even ourselves." All of them nodded and shook their hands, sealing the promise._

 _"But what if one of us breaks the promise?" Noir asked._

 _Aurea had a thoughtful look. "Well, we can punch Nero in the face, 'cause I'm sure he'll be the one to break it." She said teasingly. Nero cried out in protest as the girls giggled._

 _"You guys are mean." Nero mumbled._

 **(Flashback Ends)**

'I remember now. It's all clear now.' He fell to his knees, unable to comprehend his guilt, and remembering his promise to Weiss. 'How the fuck did I forget that? How the fuck DID I FORGET THAT?!' He thought in rage.

He went into crawling position as he punched the ground, feeling angry at himself. Just as he was about to get into his self-loathing, he heard the door closing, and he saw Weiss, standing at the entrance, looking at him in shock.

"Nero..."

"Weiss..."

Both were confused on why they were here when they realised that it was their routine to practice together around this time. Weiss approached Nero awkwardly, not knowing what to say, as is the case with Nero.

The atmosphere was tense, both not knowing what to speak to the other. Eventually, Weiss broke the silence.

"Nero, I-I just want to apo-"

"Punch me."

"...What?"

"Weiss, punch me." Nero blurted out.

"But why should I punch you?" She asked flabbergasted.

"I broke our promise, remember?" He took on a desperate tone as he said it.

"Y-you remember our promise?" Weiss gasped in shock.

"Yes, I remember. So please, just fucking punch me before I do something worse." He begged to the heiress. Weiss just remained silent as she stared at the floor. "Weiss?"

Pretty soon Nero got his wish as Weiss gave him a sucker punch to the face. He immediately recoiled at the pain, surprised by her strength. When he turned his head again, he saw Weiss, her face streaming with tears.

"Do you know how I felt when you left me all those years?" She spat, but her tone is not as hostile as before. Nero looked down in shame.

"Sorry." He apologised.

"No, you jerk. I don't want your apology. I just want you to-" Her speech was cut off when Nero enveloped her in a hug.

"I'm sorry Weiss. I was a total jerk." He said guiltily as he held the crying girl. "I shouldn't have blamed you for everything. You weren't even apart of it and yet I still..."

Weiss kept sobbing while she hit Nero in the chest. "You jerk. Let me go. When you were angry at me, I never felt so sad. Why didn't you just bring me? Why can't you just bring me to your family?" She sobbed incessantly.

"You wanted to go with me? Why?" He was shocked and confused.

"I want to. Your family looks so happy. Mine just keep arguing, especially after Winter renounced her status as heiress as heiress to join the military. And when you left, I-I was so devastated."

Nero took in her words as she continued shedding tears on his chest. All this time, he was being selfish and took out his anger at the wrong person, and instead of helping her, he just abandoned her.

Eventually, her tears subsided and he was still hugging her, giving her a form of comfort.

"Hey, Nero. Can you like, let go of me?" Weiss asked softly, although a tone of humor was there.

"Don't deny it, Weiss. You love my hug." Nero retorted teasingly, resulting in a slap to the chest.

"Shut up! You were the one hugging me!" The heiress growled with a blush, although she couldn't deny that she liked it.

"Okay, okay, princess. I give up." He let go of her and Weiss immediately pulled away from Nero, her cheeks still flaming in embarassment. "Mind if we take a seat?"

The white-haired girl just nodded and followed him. When they settled down, he started talking.

"Weiss, why did you tell me about this just now? Why not earlier before we...fought?" He asked softly.

Weiss stared at the ground sadly. "To be honest, I was scared. I didn't want to get in your way. I'd probably just make things worse for your family."

"Weiss..." He looked at the heiress in guilt. She looked uncomfortable, and honestly he wasn't surprised. "I know I'm a bit too late about this, but you're not a burden."

"Really?" Weiss said in a hopeful tone. He couldn't help but be reminded of the time when he asked her to play with him.

"Yes, Weiss. You're my friend, and most of all you're my family." He reassured her. "Granted, I haven't been much of either in the past few years, and I think it's high time I start making it up to you."

"It's not just your fault, Nero. I'm also to blame for what happened between us." Weiss said. "And I'm sorry for insulting your mother. And for being a total bitch just now."

"Woah, woah. Did I just hear you say 'bitch' just now?" Nero jested, earning him a punch to the shoulder. "Ow, that hurts. Geez, Weiss. You may be small, but you punch hard."

"Serves you right for teasing me like that." She huffed childishly. It was obvious that the two are feeling as close as when they were kids again.

"Right, right. Sorry 'bout that, princess." Nero chuckled before flinching at his nickname for her, forgetting that she doesn't really like it. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm fine with it actually." She admitted bashfully. "But only if you call me that."

Nero looked shocked. "Really? You sure about it?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Weiss turned her head away in embarassment. The two became silent once more, before Weiss asked Nero a question. "Nero?"

"Mhmm, yes?"

"Do you like Ruby?"

Nero instantly choked on thin air at the heiress' question. "What kind of question is that?"

"I was just curious, okay? Why are you even hesitating? Unless..." She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "...you really DO like Ruby."

He stuttered around with a blush, struggling to answer. "Uh, I.."

Weiss couldn't help but giggle. Nero just glared at her mumbling, "Shut up."

"I can't help it. It's kinda cute that you like her though." She admitted. "So, when are you going to ask her?"

"Ask her what?"

Weiss gave him a blank look. "Duh. Ask her out on a date."

"Oh." He slumped down as he mumbled. "Not anytime soon."

"But why? You like her, don't you?" She asked curiously.

"It's not like she likes me right?" He muttered dejectedly. He then got a whack on his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"For being an idiot." Weiss chided. "It's obvious that she likes you Nero. She kissed you remember?"

"On the cheek, and that was just out of impulse. And how did you know about that?"

"She's my partner, so naturally there is no secret between us." She said haughtily.

The heir rolled his eyes. "What makes you so sure anyway?"

"Nero, it's obvious to everyone but you two. The way you looked at each other, how you helped her with everything, how she talks about you to everyone. Honestly, it astounds me that you haven't got together yet." Weiss stated confidently.

"Look, I just don't want to mess up our friendship, okay? I'm fine with where we are right now." He sighed tiredly. "Look, let's just do something else."

Weiss just shrugged and didn't press him any further. "So, what do you suggest we do?"

"How 'bout a spar? It's what we usually do anyway."

Weiss nodded and walked to the center of the gym, falling into her stance. Nero quickly followed suit.

"Alright. In three, two, one...Begin!" And thus, the sounds of metals clashing filled the gymnasium for the rest of the day.

* * *

(The next day...)

Team RWBY, JNPR and NARA were having their lunch right now, they were currently wide-eyed and jaw-dropped by the spectacle in front of them. Of what, you may ask? Well, of one Nero Carbone and Weiss Schnee walking together, laughing and giggling respectively like they were best friends, when just yesterday, they were at each others throat.

"Hey guys! Wassup?" Nero greeted them all, although confused by their expression. "What?"

"Yang, punch me. 'Cause I've gotta be dreaming right now." Rouge exclaimed in pure shock. "There's no way Nero and Weiss just walked together like they were best buds just now."

"Okay." Yang replied and gave Rouge a knuckle sandwich to the head, who cried out in pain. When Rouge realised he wasn't dreaming, he dropped his jaw again.

"Nero, you're not having a fever, right?" Aurea rushed up to him, feeling his head up. "Are you sure you're not sick or anything?"

"What the hell're you guys talking about?" He said with a scowl as he swatted Aurea's hand away. "I'm fine, geez."

"Then, can you explain how are you not killing Weiss on the spot and instead talking to her in a friendly way?" Aurea asked incredulously.

Nero sighed tiredly. His friends can be overreacting sometimes. "Is it that hard to believe that I worked things out with Weiss?"

"Well, considering how you were cursing her out yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised." Aurea mumbled inaudibly.

"So, this is like, for real? You guys aren't fighting anymore?" Rouge asked unconvinced by Nero's words.

The heir rolled his eyes and replied, "Yes, Rouge. This is for real."

Nero and Weiss was suddenly wrapped in a hug by Ruby, who was crying out in excitement. The two blushed for different reasons. Weiss because of embarassment and Nero because it was Ruby hugging him.

"Yes! My two BFFs are back together!"

"Stop touching me, Ruby." Weiss huffed, but made no effort to remove her leader.

"Sis, I think you should listen to Weiss. Unless you wanna see Nero steaming hot." Yang teased with a smirk.

Ruby stared at Nero and sure enough, his face was as red as her cape and their face was quite close to each other. She let out an adorable squeak and released Nero (and Weiss) from her hold, her face also warming up.

Everyone laughed at the two 'just friends' blushing together. Ruby glared at her sister while mumbling incoherently, although they could heard words like 'stupid Yang' and 'crush'.

Weiss and Nero took a seat next to Ruby and all of them continued eating their lunch. For once, they felt that things would take a turn for the better.

At least, that's what they thought.

* * *

 **Author's Note: ANNNND DONE! Whew, longest chapter I wrote. Frickin' 9k+ XD. Anyway, I'm pretty sure some of might be questioning things about my OC, Nero and how seemingly powerful he is (or maybe that's just me being paranoid xp). But anyway, first of all, it was already mentioned that he was a prodigy, which while not really my kind of guy, is a part of his personality. And if he seemed like he could fight wih fucking everything, remember this: he made a sword that weigh about 180 kg or close to 400 pounds. Shit's fucking heavy that it's gonna take a while for him to even wield it. So, while he trained himself to get used to the weight, what is he gonna use when he fight? Answer: CQC and some firearms. And besides, not saying it's true, but a huntsman gotta be versatile right? Being a one-trick pony sucks, no matter how strong you are, that's what I think. And that's why I made Nero like that. It's just the way I see it. They're gonna be the defenders of humanity, so why train them to be the best in any situation?**

 **Anyway, it's just me being insecure about my story. Let's move on. What do you think about this chapter? Good? Bad? Horrible? Just give me any review, that is not insulting in any form. And I can't promise when the next chapter's gonna be out, but I've already laid out the storyline so there's that. And that's all for now.**

 **KOB, signing out.**


	8. Ch 8 Cat's Out of the Bag

**Author's Note: Sup Readers! Okay, first off, I'm REALLY sorry about the delay for this chapter. Honestly, I don't have any real reasons for the late post other than just procrastinating. I mean, I already had the templates and everything, so I just had to write it down, but I didn't and it makes me feel like an ass. Like I said, I can't promise for any regular updates but nonetheless I update things as fast as possible. Again, I'm really sorry for the delay.**

 **Now, as you can guess from the title, this one's about Blake story, and I have to remind you that it's mostly Team RWBY-centric, 'cause I can't really fit the OCs into these chapters as they don't really have any direct connections to Blake or the White Fangs. But there will be Team NARA in here, just a minor appearance and to foreshadow for future chapters.**

 **Well, enough rambling. And without further ado, here's chapter 8 for Our Purpose.**

 **Disclaimer: Haven't done this in a while, but you know it, right? RWBY is not mine and is owned by Rooster Teeth and the late Monty Oum (RIP). The OCs however, are mine so if you want to use them, better ask for my permission.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 8: Cat's out of the Bag

(Location: Downtown Vale)

The streets of Downtown Vale was busy as the people started their preparations for the biannual Vytal Festival. Colourful balloons and streamers were displayed with pride. An old man was seen hanging a banner saying 'Welcome to Vale!' across the streets. Team RWBY was strolling along with Weiss leading, staring at the preparations with awe.

"The Vytal Festival. Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" The heiress gushed in excitement and raised her arms happily.

"I don't think I've seen you smile this much Weiss." Ruby said nervously, as she frowned a little, creeped out by Weiss' unusually upbeat attitude. "It's kinda weirding me out." Weiss may have gotten softer and friendlier after what happened with Nero and Ruby, but she was still the Ice Queen of Team RWBY.

The girl in question turned to Ruby. "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang crossed her arms and sighed. "Geez, Weiss. You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!" There we go. Back to the Weiss we all know and love.

Eventually, the girls stopped near the docks and the sounds of foghorn can be heard. Yang then asked, "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting this stupid dock?"

Ruby took a sniff and immediately blanched in disgust. "Ugh, it smells like fish."

"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." The white-haired girl explained. "And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" She placed her hand on her chest with pride.

Blake then corrected her statement. "She wants to spy on them so we can have the upper hand in the tournament.

"You can't prove that." Weiss scoffed.

As they continue their walk, Ruby turned to her right and saw an unpleasant sight. "Whoa." Her team also turned to see a shop with shattered windows down the street. The area was covered with yellow tapes and there was a pair of detectives from the Vale Police Department. They approached the scene and Ruby asked. "What happened here?"

 **(A/N: Imma call the one with beard Detective 1 and the other Detective 2)**

"Dust robbery. Second one to get hit this week." Detective 1 replied. "This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible." Yang sighed sadly.

"They left out the money again." Detective 2 called out to his partner. Ruby perked up in interest hearing this.

"Right. None of this makes any sense." Detective 1 said, baffled by the case. "Who needs this much Dust anyway?"

"I don't know. An army?" Detective 2 suggested.

"You thinking the White Fang?" Detective 1 asked.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough for this." Detective 2 grumbled a reply.

Weiss immediately scowled at the mention of the White Fang. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake frowned hearing the heiress' words. "What's your problem?"

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane." Weiss replied with disgust.

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake justified, crossing her arms. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus.

"Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off this planet?!" The white-haired girl retorted scathingly.

"So then they're very misguided." Blake argued back. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Hmmmm...Blake's got a point." Ruby cut in, agreeing with Blake. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago...maybe it was him."

"It still doesn't change the fact that the White Fangs are bunch of scums." Weiss said, much to Blake's growing ire. "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat and steal."

"That's not necessarily true." Yang tried to defend. Their conversation was then interrupted by a cry from the docks.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

Team RWBY heard this and immediately rushed over to investigate. There, they saw a monkey Faunus about their age being chased by two men, presumably the sailors. He was blond- haired and tanned, wearing a white shirt with folded sleeves, although it was unbuttoned, showing his toned body. He also wore a pair of jeans and sneakers, completing his casual look. The vambraces on his arms showed that he was a huntsman, or at least in training.

"Thanks for the ride!" The Faunus laughed happily before leaping an incredible distance from the ship.

"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors cried.

"Hey, a no-good stowaway would've been caught. I'm a great stowaway." The Faunus said as he ate a banana while hanging on a lamp post upside-down using his prehensile tail.

The detectives from before approached the boy from below.

"Hey, get down here this instant." Detective 1 said. He got a banana peel to his face in response, causing him to growl. The Faunus jumped towards the boardwalk and cackled mischievously before running away. When he passed the girls, he gave a wink at Blake, who looked astonished by his bold actions. The annoyed detectives quickly gave chase.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes." Said Yang as they watched the Faunus ran further and further away.

Weiss quickly hold up a finger. "Quick, we have to observe him." She cried out and took off to chase the stowaway, her team following suit.

As they turned around a corner, Weiss accidentally bumped into someone and tripped. When she looked up, the monkey boy had already jumped away out of their sights.

"He got away." She cursed.

Her team, on the other hand, looked at her strangely. "Ummm, Weiss..." Yang said as she pointed to the girl beneath her teammate.

Weiss finally realised that fact, and the girl in question smiled as Weiss removed herself. The girl had short, rather curly orange hair that came down to her chin, and she wore a pink bow on the back of her head. She also had bright green eyes, light skin and freckles. She wore an old-fashioned blouse with short feminine overalls, as well as a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.

"Sal-u-ta-tions." She greeted with a smile, while still lying on the ground.

"Ummm, hello?" Ruby greeted in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Yang inquired.

"I'm wonderful. Thank you for asking." The girl responded cheerfully. Team RWBY looked at each other in confusion before turning back to her.

"Are you sure you don't wanna get up?" Yang asked the girl, half concerned and half confused.

The girl paused for a moment before replying, "Of course!" She leaped back on her feet, and Team RWBY took a step back from her. "My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Seeing as Penny introduced herself, Ruby figured why not.

"I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss." Weiss said, joining in.

"Blake."

"Are you sure you didn't get hit your head?" Yang asked bluntly, and she got an elbow to the chest by Blake. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Penny said in her cheerful tone.

"You already said that." Weiss noted.

Penny went thinking for a few seconds. Then she replied, "So I did."

"Well, uh, sorry for bumping into you just now." She said before turning back and walking away.

"Take care, friend." Ruby said before following her team, not seeing Penny's startled expression as they left.

When they were far enough, Yang started talking. "Well, that girl was...weird."

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss hissed, still angry that she lost the guy.

Then all of a sudden, Penny appeared in front of Weiss, surprising her and the others.

"What did you call me?" Penny asked with narrowed eyes.

Weiss was gaping at how she ended up in front of them in a blink of an eye. Yang immediately felt apologetic, thinking that she heard her words. "Oh, I'm sorry. I definitely didn't think that you'd heard it."

But Penny wasn't talking about Yang.

"No, not you." The girl marched pass the others and stared intently at Ruby. "You!"

Ruby, clearly surprised by this, can only stammer out gibberish. "What, I, uh, I don't, uhm..."

"You called me friend." Penny cut in, as she leaned towards Ruby. "Am I really your friend?"

"Uh, I..." Ruby turned to her teammates for advice, in which they shook their heads frantically, indicating a no. "Uh, sure. Why not?"

The others had comical expressions of shock before they face-faulted. Penny, on the other hand, looks overjoyed.

"Sen-sa-tio-nal!" The weird girl cried out happily. "Now we can go shopping and try out clothes, paint our nails and talk about cute boys."

The red-hooded girl groaned, remembering the time when Weiss said the exact same words to her. "Is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby whispered to her partner.

"No, she seems far more coordinated." Weiss replied.

Yang then decided to 'break the ice' with Penny.

"So, what're you doing here, Penny?" She asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament." Penny answered.

"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked with an incredulous look.

"I'm combat ready." She saluted.

Weiss still had a hard time believing that this girl is participating in the tournament. "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress." Blake quipped from the sidelines.

"Excuse me, it's a combat skirt." Weiss defended.

Ruby, a fellow 'combat skirt wearer' dashed next to Weiss and said smugly. "Yeah!" She and Weiss then gave a low-five to each other.

Weiss then realised something. "Wait." She approached Penny and grabbed her at the shoulders. "If you're in the tournament, does that mean that you know about the monkey-tailed...rapscallion?"

"The who?" Penny asked in confusion.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss pressed on, showing her a poorly illustrated picture of the monkey Faunus.

Blake finally had enough with Weiss.

"Why do you keep saying that?" She called out to the heiress.

Weiss turned her attention from Penny to Blake. "Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!" Blake said, upset with Weiss' attitude.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The white-haired girl apologised mockingly. "Do you want me to stop calling this trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?" She scoffed and pointed at said objects.

"Stop that!" Blake huffed angrily.

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; He'll probably join up with the other Faunus at the White Fangs." Weiss retorted in anger.

"You ignorant, little brat!" Blake spat acidly, her patience reaching its limits.

Weiss look shocked hearing Blake's insult, but it quickly turned to anger. "How dare you talk to me like that! I'm your teammate!"

"You're a judgmental little girl." Blake said, crossing her arms under her chest.

"What in the world makes you say that?" Weiss asked frustratedly.

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!" Blake responded.

Yang slid up to Ruby uncomfortably, as they watched the two bickering. "Uhhh, I think we should go."

"Where are we going?" Penny joined in with a smile, ignorant of the situation in front of her.

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a group of radical terrorist." Said the white-haired girl.

"That is not what I meant and you know it." Blake argued back.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory Room)

It was night time and Ruby and Yang were still watching Weiss and Blake arguing about the White Fang.

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem." Weiss said, sitting Ruby's bed.

"That **is** the problem!" Blake retorted from her side.

Weiss than stood up and continued. "You realise that you're defending an organisation that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus at the White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake defended, getting on her feet as well. "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like **you** that forces the White Fang to take such actions."

"People?" Weiss asked, seemingly ignoring her jabs at the Faunus just now.

"You're discrimnatory!" Blake cried out.

"I'm a victim!" Weiss cried back, surprising everyone in the room. She turned her back from everyone, as her voice grew soft. "You want to know why I despise the White Fangs? Why I don't particularly like the Faunus?"

The heiress leaned on the bookshelf as she continued. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family and friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. My grandfather has made things hard enough at home, but along with my father...it didn't make for an easy childhood."

Weiss banged the shelf in anger. She was visibly holding back tears, remembering painful memories of the past. "And because of them, I lost my best friend. The one person that cared for me."

Ruby approached her partner in an attempt to comfort her. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" The girl yelled, surprising everyone as she turned back to Blake, drowned in anger. "You want to know why I hate the White Fangs? Because they're a bunch of liars, murderers and thieves."

"Well maybe **we** were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake finally lashed out. Soon, she realised her mistake as Weiss backed away in surprise (and probably disgust) with Ruby and Yang having the same expression. Blake stared at everyone in fear, not knowing what to say.

"I, uhm, uh-" Blake then took off in a surprising feat of speed, running out of the room.

"Blake, wait!" Ruby tried running after her, to no avail. Meanwhile, Weiss plopped to her bed while Yang was wide-eyed, still trying to comprehend what just happened.

(Location: Courtyard)

Blake kept running until she eventually stopped near a statue. The statue showed an armored man wielding a sword and a woman wielding an axe on an outcropping as they triumphed over the Beowolves beneath them. Blake stared at the statue sadly before grabbing her ribbon on her head and removing it, revealing a pair of cat ears.

As she stared at the ground with remorse, a familiar voice spoke.

"I knew you'd look better off without the bow." Blake looked up to the source before her eyes widened in surprise.

(Location: Downtown Vale)

Ruby, Yang and Weiss are now seen walking the streets of Vale looking for Blake who went missing since two days ago.

"She's been gone all weekend." Ruby said sullenly, not knowing what to do.

Weiss just scoffed, not caring about her missing teammate. "Blake's a big girl. I'm sure she's gonna be fine." She said mockingly.

"Weiss, come on. She's our teammate." Yang chided the white-haired girl sternly.

"Is she? We all heard what she said." Weiss sassed.

Ruby was not amused by this and glared at her. "Weiss."

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. Either way, she's missing right now and we have to find her." Yang said, but was seemingly ignored by Weiss.

"A member of the White Fangs. Right underneath our noses."

"I just hope she's okay." Ruby sighed, as she can only hope for the best.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a cafe at another part of Downtown Vale, Blake was sitting while sipping a cup of tea. She placed the cup on the table and spoke.

"So, you want to know more about me?" She said, staring at her companion, the monkey Faunus from the docks that time who she found was named Sun Wukong. He was grinning at her while holding his cup with his prehensile tail.

"Finally, she speaks! Nearly two days and you've given me nothing but small talks and weird looks." Sun exclaimed, earning him a small glare from the cat Faunus. "Yeah, like that."

Blake just rolled her eyes before looking at the blond with a sad expression. "Sun, have you heard of the White Fang?"

"Of course. I don't think there's any Faunus around that doesn't know about the White Fang." Sun replied with a hint of disgust in his tone. "Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps who uses force to get anything they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me."

"I was once a member of the White Fangs." Blake said calmly, as if it was nothing.

Sun immediately went cross-eyed and choked on his drink, thinking he's heard wrong. Then she stared at the bow-wearing girl with an incredulous look. "Wait, you were a member of the White Fang?!"

"Yes, I've been a member of the White Fangs ever since I was a child." Blake revealed. "You could almost say that I was born into it."

Blake knew that Sun wanted an explanation, and that's what she did. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between Humans and the Faunus."

Sun just stared at her surprised. He never knew the White Fangs had been around for that long. Blake then continued, "Of course, despite being promised equality, the Faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there."

"I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. I actually thought we were making a difference. But I was just a youthful optimist." Blake scoffed, remembering the time when she was just a naive, young girl. "Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us, hijacking cargo from companies that used Faunus labor. And the worst part was, it was working. We were being treated like equals. But not out of respect... out of fear."

Blake looked down in guilt. She might've regretted it, but she still took part in the attacks organised by the White Fangs. "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress. So here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little black bow." She wiggle her cat ears to show as proof.

Sun, who remained silent the whole time, took a few moments to process all the information. Then, he asked Blake a question.

"So, have you told any of this to your friends?"

Her silence says it all.

* * *

Elsewhere, the other members of Team RWBY are still searching for Blake, except for Weiss for obvious reasons.

"Blaaaake!" Ruby screamed out loud, hoping that Blake would hear them.

"Blaaaake!" Yang followed suit.

"Blaaaaaaake! Where are yoooouuuu?!" Ruby continued screaming.

"Blake!"

Ruby turned to Weiss, who wasn't doing anything, and groaned. "Weiss! You're not helping!"

"Oh you know who can help? The police." Weiss suggested sarcastically.

Ruby was definitely not amused by this. "Ugh, Weiss."

"It was just an idea!" Weiss said indignantly.

"Yeah, a bad one." The hooded girl grumbled. She was getting sick of Weiss' attitude right now.

"Weiss, I think we should listen to her side of the story." Yang said, trying to defend her partner.

"And once you hear it, you'll know that I'm right." Weiss said haughtily.

"And I think Weiss' hair looks wonderful today." Penny complimented from the sidelines.

Everyone immediately turned back, startled by Penny's sudden appearance.

"Aaah! Penny! What are you doing here?" Ruby asked the girl in surprise.

"Hey, guys! What are you doing here?" Penny greeted cheerfully, ignoring Ruby's question.

The red-haired girl stammered for a bit, not knowing what to say before Yang answered for her.

"We were looking for our friend Blake."

"Owh, you mean the Faunus girl!" Penny said, surprising them again with her knowledge.

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Ruby asked skeptically.

"Uhhh, the cat ears?" The girl pointed on top of her head.

Yang laughed a little before saying. "What're you talking about? Blake doesn't have cat ears. She wears a booo...oh."

Ruby, Weiss and Yang went silent as they finally realised that fact. The situation was awkward and the tumbleweed blowing through the wind certainly did not help.

"She does like tuna a lot." Ruby whispered out, finally breaking the silence.

"So, where is she?" Penny asked, getting back into topic.

"She's been missing since Friday." Ruby replied with a sad tone.

The orange-haired girl gasped dramatically. "That's terrible!" She said, approaching Ruby and grabbing her arms. "Well, don't you worry Ruby my friend. I won't rest until we can find your teammate."

Ruby smiled nervously, still feeling uncomfortable with Penny's awkward social skills. "Uh, it's really nice of you Penny, but we're okay. Really, right guys?" She turned to Weiss and Yang, hoping for their help, only to find the two gone. Realising she had been ditched, Ruby just remained silent, as another tumbleweed blew through the wind.

"It certainly is windy today." Penny noted, oblivious to the awkward situation.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blake and Sun were now seen walking down an alley.

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked the quiet girl.

Blake had a thoughtful expression as she contemplated their situation. "I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind all the robbery. They've never needed this much dust before."

"What if they did?" Sun blurted out, prompting Blake to look at him. He then paced around as if he's onto something. "I mean, the only way to find out if they didn't do it is to go to a place you think they'd do it and not finding them."

Blake nodded at the blond's surprisingly sound logic. "The problem is, I don't know where they'd strike next."

Sun thought for a few moments. He then remembered something.

"Well, when I was at the ship just now, I heard people talking about offloading some huge shipment of Dusts tonight." He revealed.

"How huge?"

"Huge. Big Schnee Company Freighter." The monkey replied.

"You sure?" Blake asked for confirmation. Sun's look says it all, and the pair walked away formulating their plans.

* * *

"Tell me, Nero. What are we doing here again?" A question asked by one Rouge Chevalier as he walked along the streets of Downtown Vale with Nero.

Nero just sighed before replying. "I'm here because I wanted to stock up on my Dust supplies. And you're here because you're the only one not doing anything and I needed someone to go with."

"Really? What about Aurea and Azur?" Rouge asked.

"Azur's hanging out with Velvet today, and Aurea's training , so I'm not gonna bother her." Nero responded before looking at Rouge weirdly. "Aren't you supposed to know about this? They're our teammates, dude."

"It's a freaking Sunday, Nero. I'm supposed to be sleeping right now." Rouge retorted.

"It's almost 5 pm, Rouge." Nero deadpanned.

"My points exactly. And why did you choose me again? Can't you just bring your girlfriend instead?" Rouge asked teasingly.

"Ruby's not my girlfriend!" The skunk-haired teen cried out, his face covered in red.

"Hmmm, I never said anything about Ruby, but that's interesting to know." Rouge had a cocky smirk as he teased his leader.

Nero began sputtering nonsense, before calming himself down. He mumbled a 'shut up, Rouge' under his breath before continuing. "Anyway, I haven't seen Ruby and her team since this morning, so I can't ask them."

Rouge raised an eyebrow at this. "They've been out since morning?"

"Yeah, and even Team JNPR doesn't know where they went to." Nero stated.

"Hmmm, that's weird. You think that something happened with them?" Rouge asked.

"Well, probably. Or they just went to Downtown early." Nero tried to reassure his friend.

"Early in the morning? I don't think so." Rouge remained skeptical.

"But then what-" Before he could continue he saw two familiar figures coming out of a shop. "Hey, isn't that Yang and Weiss?"

Rouge turned to look, and true to his words, it was Weiss and Yang. Rouge turned to Nero and asked. "Should we approach them?"

Nero nodded in agreement, and the pair walked up to the blonde and white-haired member of Team RWBY.

"Hey, Weiss!" Nero greeted, prompting the girls to look at them in surprise.

"Nero? Rouge? What are you doing here?" Weiss asked.

"Is it so wrong for us to go explore the town?" Rouge asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it's not wrong. It's just..." Yang replied but trailed off with a sad look, which the boys noticed.

"What's wrong? You guys have been gone since morning." Nero asked in concern.

It took a few seconds, but Yang finally replied. "...We were looking for Blake. She's been missing since Friday."

Nero and Rouge's eye widened at her statement. "Wait, Blake's missing? How did that happen?" The redhead asked.

Yang just gave Weiss a small glare, who only huffed. "Well, it went like this..."

Yang then told the two a quick summary of what happened. When she was done, Nero and Rouge went slack-jawed in surprise. This whole time, Blake was actually a Faunus?

"And you said that she could be a former member of the White Fang?" Rouge asked.

Yang nodded at his question. Nero rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Will things ever be peaceful for any of them?

"Okay, seeing as we're here, how 'bout we help you guys?" Nero offered.

Yang looked at Weiss, who seemed disinterested, and shrugged before accepting Nero's offer. When the now group of four started their search, Nero spoke.

"Yang, why don't you and Rouge go ahead. Me and Weiss will catch up in a bit." The heir said. The others looked at him in confusion, especially Weiss, but followed his request and the pair walked away, leaving Nero and Weiss alone.

"What's this about, Nero?" Weiss asked, still confused.

"...Is all this about what happened with us?" Nero asked bluntly. "Because of the White Fang and your family?"

"You should know. The White Fangs are all scum. And she had the gall to defend their actions." Weiss exclaimed angrily.

"Weiss, this attitude of yours is exactly why the White Fang is attacking your family." Nero chided her.

Weiss couldn't believe that Nero would defend the White Fang over her. "They've made me suffer for years! And they're one of the reasons we broke off our ties! I've had reason to hate the Faunus!"

"And they've had hundreds of better reasons to hate humanity!" Nero cried out, surprising Weiss. "We've treated them like less than animals. You've been a victim for years, well, they've been a victim for centuries!" Nero calmed himself down before continuing. "But that's not my point. Blake's your friend now, and you're letting your hatred blind you to that fact."

"Whether she's a member of the White Fang or not shouldn't matter now, because she's your friend and you should always stick by her side." Nero looked down on the ground in shame before saying. "...Don't repeat the same mistake that I did, Weiss. I almost lost you because of my anger, and I'm not letting something like that happen again."

Weiss also looked down the ground, the memories of her feud with Nero still fresh in her mind. Nero then grabbed her shoulder and said, "We should go, Weiss, and...just think about it, okay?"

The two walked away, trying to catch up with Rouge and Yang. Meanwhile, Weiss was thinking about Nero's words a few seconds ago.

* * *

(With Ruby and Penny)

Ruby and Penny were down the streets, still looking for Blake. Ruby also had to deal with Penny and her borderline-absurd awkwardness. And she thought she was the socially awkward one.

"So, is Blake your friend?" The orange-haired girl asked.

Ruby sighed before giving an answer. "Yes, Penny. She's my friend."

"But you're mad at her?" Penny inquired.

"I'm not. Weiss is."

"Is Weiss friends with Blake?" Penny asked innocently.

"That's kinda up in the air right now." Ruby mumbled quietly, but loud enough to be heard by Penny.

"Why?" The girl just keep throwing in questions like a five-year old child.

"Well, Blake may not be what we think she is." Ruby replied.

Penny gasped in shock. "Is she a **man**?"

"No, no, no, Penny. She's..." The hooded girl trailed off, still feeling glum over the current situation. "...I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly say anything."

"Well, I don't have many friends, but if I do, I'd want to talk to them." Penny noted. Ruby only looked down the ground sadly.

"Me too..." She said.

* * *

(Location: Vale Port)

The docks were silent in the middle of the night. In one particular building, Blake was lying on the ground, observing the Schee Dust Company freighter.. Sun then came up to her, his arms holding up a bunch of apples.

"Hey, see anything yet?" He asked.

Blake shook her head. "Nothing so far. They've offloaded the container so far, but other than that, nothing.

"Cool." He then took out one of the apples and offered to her.

"I stole you some food. Want some?" Sun asked, ignoring the fact that he just broke the law by doing this.

Blake gave him a blank look. "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you a part of a cult before this?" Sun retorted. Blake's glare immediately made him retract his statement. "Okay, too soon."

A few moments later, the wind blew over them all. The pair looked up to see shining headlight of a Bullhead trying to find a landing spot. When it descended to the ground, a ramp was extended and a man with black hood, wearing a metallic fanged mask exited the Bullhead.

"Oh, no..." Blake was afraid of this.

"Is it them?" Sun asked her, although he probably knew the answer.

"Yes...it's them." Blake said as she stared sadly at the bloody wolf symbol at the back of their outfit.

Luckily, they could still hear the conversation from afar. The White Fang member turned to more members coming out of the Bullhead before giving out orders.

"Alright, grab the tow cables." The man said holding his rifle ready.

Sun turned to Blake, who looked devastated. "You really didn't think they did it, did you?"

Blake shook her head. "No. I think deep down I knew. I just didn't want to be right." The girl wanted to close her eyes in despair, but a new voice alarmed her.

"What's the holdup, people?" The voice came from the Bullhead. When the person came out, it was revealed to be the notorious criminal, Roman Torchwick. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves right now, so why don't you animals pick up the pace?" He expressed his disgust towards the Faunus, which is odd, considering that they're currently pulling off a heist together.

"This isn't right. The White Fangs would never work with a human. Especially not one like this." Blake stood up and unsheathed her Gambol Shroud as she walked to the edge of the roof.

Sun was alarmed and tried to stop her. "Hey, what're you doing?!" But Blake had already jumped off the roof, landing on a crouching position. She quickly hid behind a container as she saw Roman interacting with a White Fang soldier.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!" Roman lashed out at the member who walked away. The crime lord looked around the docks, but fail to notice Blake sneaking up on him as he found a blade at his throat. "What the- Oh, for fu-"

"Nobody move." Blake interrupted him mid-swear as she aimed her pistol at the White Fang members who was readying their guns and swords at her.

"Whoa! Take it easy there, little lady." Roman joked. As the White Fangs closed in on her, Blake pulled out her ribbon from her head, revealing her cat ears to everyone.

"Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum?" She implored to the Faunus present. The soldiers lowered their weapon a little, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile, Roman just laughed.

"Oh, kid, didn't you get the memo?" He said.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes.

"The White Fang and I are going on a business venture."

"Tell me or I'll end your little operation right now." Blake threatened the man, pressing her Gambol Shroud to his throat.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation." Roman looked up as they were suddenly covered by a large shadow. Blake looked up and stared in horror as a few more Bullheads arrived. Taking advantage of the moment, Roman fired a rocket from his cane/weapon to Blake's feet, resulting in a large explosion.

Blake was dazed but relatively unhurt, thanks to her Aura. She managed to recover fast enough to dodge more missile attacks from Roman. With her surroundings on fire, Blake retreated behind more containers to hide from the orange-haired man.

Roman just approached slowly while taunting her. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." He was interrupted when a banana peel fell on top of his head. He looked up and growled at his assailant, Sun. The monkey leaped off, landing on Roman's face feet-first, before performing a handspring and a front flip as he landed on the ground.

"Leave her alone." The blond said menacingly. Then, from the Bullheads above, several White Fang soldier leaped off to the ground, with their rifles and swords, and immediately surrounded the monkey Faunus.

"You're not the brightest banana in a bunch, are ya?" Roman sneered, before the White Fang rushed in to attack. Sun used his acrobatic skills to dodge all the slashes and managed to even hit several members before rolling out of the way. Deciding that playtime's over, the blond took out his weapon from the back, transforming it into a collapsible red staff.

Now armed with a weapon, Sun dominated the soldiers, smacking them away with ease, and they didn't have the chance to land a hit on him. Blake peered around the corner of the container, watching the monkey Faunus beat more grunts. Roman who was watching this, growled in annoyance and aimed his cane at Sun, firing a missile towards him. Unfortunately, for Roman, Sun easily blocked the shot. It was at this point that Blake leaped into action.

"He's mine!" She cried out, dashing to the crime boss. She blurred into afterimages, attempting to strike Roman down, but the man was surprisingly skilled enough to block all of her attacks while getting a few hits on the cat Faunus. With one hard hit from the Melodic Cudgel, Blake was struck down.

Sun immediately tagged in for Blake, disconnecting his staff into two before transforming it into two pairs of shotgun-nunchuks. With impressive mastery over it, Sun fired an endless barrage of concussive blasts, and Roman had a hard time blocking it. Until, in a split-second, he was caught off-guard by Blake, who recovered from the hit, slashing him and knocking him back.

Roman was outnumbered and desperate to win. He found a window of opportunity when he saw a crane holding a container directly above the Faunus duo. He immediately fired a shot at the support, sending the container to the ground. Blake leaped behind it, while Sun barely missed it and leaped forward, only to find Roman's cane aimed at his face. Just as the man was about to fire, he was interrupted by an annoyingly familiar voice.

"Hey!" Came the voice of Ruby from the rooftop alongside Penny.

At seeing Ruby's face, Roman diverted his attention to the girl. "Hello there, Little Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Ruby, are these people your friends?" Penny asked as she approached the girl.

"Penny, get back!" Ruby warned her. Roman snarled and fired a missile which hit Ruby on the face, causing the girl to get thrown away. The criminal cackled evilly at his attack, and Penny narrowed her eyes. No one gets away with hurting her friends. The girl walked to the edge of the rooftop, while Ruby tried to stop her.

"Penny, don't! You'll get hurt!" She cried out. The orange-haired girl turned to her and smiled.

"Don't worry Ruby. I'm combat ready." As soon as she said that, her back pack opened up, and from it, a floating blade came out which then multiplied itself. Penny jumped off the roof, sending three of her blades to take down two grunts before even landing.

Once she landed, she controlled her swords to easily defeat the grunts, sending one flying, impaling another through the wall, and when they attacked, she simply spun the blades like wheels to protect her from the barrage. She then used the same wheel to knock the White Fang grunts of their feet.

Sun watched the battle with awe (although he technically did the same thing just now). "Whoa." He then realised that he could get caught in the crossfire and ran for safety.

Just as they thought it was over, they saw three more Bullheads at the sky, firing their machine guns at them. Penny simply made a barrier with her swords, while at the same time, launching two more to the walls of the building. Then, using the strings attached to them, she pulled herself back, giving her some distance from the crossfire.

The blades gathered in front of Penny, opening up at the tips and spun around, while a green ball of energy was charging. After a few moments, Penny made a punching motion, firing a massive laser that split the three Bullheads in half, sending its passenger falling to the ground.

Ruby watched the scene with awe. The skills demonstrated by the orange-haired girl was clearly amazing. She saw Penny currently impaling her blades on one Bullhead which tried to escape with the Dust crates. After that, she pulled the blades with her wires, dragging the Bullhead down, sending it straight towards some crates before exploding.

"Whoa...how did she do that?" Ruby breathed out in amazement.

Torchwick was currently grimacing at the current situation. The last Bullhead transporting the Dust was brought down. Maybe he should cut off with the losses and run away. **She** might be mad for this, but to hell with it. He immediately took off to the only Bullhead left to escape. Sun saw the criminal ran and tried to stop him.

"Hey! You're not getting away!" Sun cried out. Just as he was about to catch up to Roman, he was immediately engulfed in an explosion which threw him off. When he came to, he saw Roman inside the Bullhead with a figure covered in shadow, before the plane took off. Frustrated at his failure to capture the criminal, the blond plopped to the ground and cursed.

* * *

(With Roman)

Roman was cussing up colourful words at this failed heist. Just then, the figure from before spoke.

"You've gotten sloppy, Roman. Got beaten by a bunch of kids?" The figure mocked, and the voice indicates it to be a male.

"Ah, fuck off. You don't know these kids." Roman snarled at the man. "They're all messed up. You saw one of them destroying our Bullheads, right?"

The man just gave a smirk. "Well, I certainly wouldn't mess up like you did. Cinder's not gonna be happy."

"Blame the animals. If they did their job rights instead of getting their ass kicked, we wouldn't have to do this." The orange-haired man spat.

"Hey, those 'animals' still have their purpose, you know. We wouldn't have gotten far without them." The figure defended.

Roman just scoffed. "Oh please. You're just saying that 'cause you've got your pack of animals to use. And they're much better than mine." The shadowed man just remained silent. "Look, we've still got more Dust to take. What's one failure gonna do?"

"If you say so, Roman." The man sighed. "But you're the one dealing with Cinder. I've got nothing to do with it." He gave a deadly glare to Roman for good measure, who just nodded fearfully.

"Okay, okay. Geez." Roman relented. Cinder may have been scary, but that man just takes the cake. How she convinced him to join up with her plans is unknown, but one thing's for sure.

Rugal Cinnabar is not a man to be messed with.

* * *

(Location: Vale Port)

The place was filled with the police now, investigating the scene. Meanwhile, Blake, Ruby and Sun were just waiting on some crates after getting questioned.

"Seriously, where did Penny went to?" Ruby asked in concern.

"That OP-ass chick just now?" Sun clarified. "Not sure, really. Haven't seen her since the cops arrived."

"I just hope she's alright." Ruby mumbled. It was at this point that Yang and Weiss arrived. Ruby quickly went up to Weiss, hoping to calm her down before talking to Blake.

"Weiss, I know what you're thinking, but it's not really all that bad. I mean, Blake's got that cat ears and she actually looks kinda cute-" Weiss pretty much ignored her leader and approached Blake, who stared at her calmly.

"Weiss, I need you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang whatsoever. Back then, when I was-" Blake tried to explain herself but Weiss quickly silenced her.

"Stop! Do you know how long we've been searching you for?" She asked the girl, even if she already knew the answer. "Twelve hours. In that twelve hours, I've been doing a lot of thinking. And I've decided that..." Weiss took a long pause which made everyone present worried. "...I don't care."

"You don't care anymore?" Blake said, surprised by Weiss' words.

"You're not the member of the White Fang anymore, right?" The heiress asked.

Blake shook her head as confirmation. "No. I-I haven't been a member since I was younger-" Weiss placed a finger on her lips.

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah. That's all I want to know." Weiss took a deep breath before continuing. "You're our teammate, and most of all, you're our friend now. Our pasts shouldn't matter anymore." Weiss had a smile on her face before changing back to her usual scowl. "But next time you have a problem, talk to your teammates and not...not someone else." She gave a stinky look at Sun as she said it.

Ruby, who was happy with the turn of events, went up and hugged the two reconciled girls. "Yay! Team RWBY is officially back together!" Weiss immediately squirmed from her hyperactive leader's grip while Blake just gave a small smile, content with how things turned out.

When Weiss was released, she turned to Sun and glared at him. "I'm still not sure what to think about you." The blond just grinned nervously.

"So, Weiss. What made you change your mind?" Yang finally asked.

Weiss shrugged before giving out a reply. "Well, I got some advice from-"

"HEY!"

The shout immediately turned their attention, as they saw Nero and Rouge, running up to them.

"Nero?" Ruby squealed unconsciously.

When they arrived, they were panting heavily, before Nero spoke.

"You...guys...are...evil." Nero said between breaths.

Yang crossed her arms and gave a smug look. "You were the one taking so long at the Dust shop."

"I told you to wait! I was stocking up on Dust supplies." Nero cried out.

"Wait, what are you doing here, Nero?" Ruby asked, still confused on why her best friend/crush is here.

"Well, we were just walking around just now, when we met Weiss and Yang." He explained. "She filled us in on what happened, so we figured why not help them. Right, Rouge?" He nudged Rouge from the side, but Rouge currently wide-eyed by something. Or someone.

"Sun?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: ANNDDD DONE! So, what do you think? In case you haven't noticed, that was my first attempt for a cliffhanger, a crappy one in my opinion, but still. So yes, Rouge know Sun. But from where? Well, obviously since Rouge and Sun is from Vacuo, duh. But we'll delve more into that later (*cough*next chapter*cough). And our new villain guy, Rugal Cinnabar. Just know, that guy was made after some completely last minute changes thanks to Chapter 5 of Volume 4 XD. I had things ready, but then that chapter threw me off with that reveal, and I had to change some things, which ended up with me chucking a new villain into the play. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you've watched the latest episode.**

 **Well, enough of my rambles again. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Like it? Follow, Favorite and Review about it. Don't like it? Just review it. I'd understand if you don't like this, seeing as this is my first work anyway, so mistakes are bound to happen. So yeah, next chapter's gonna be centered around Rouge's past. Want to know? Wait for the next chapter :p**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	9. Ch 9 A Rouge's Dilemma Part 1

**Author's Note: Hey, wassup people! King of Blacks here, back with the next chapter for Our Purpose. Surprise, surprise! I'm quite early now eh? Well, I guess it's to make up for he delay for the last one. Or it could be that this chapter is originally so long that I just split it up into two. Take it however you want. My threshold for writing is usually within 6-8k of words, so to shoot it up to possibly 14k+ is not something I'm looking forward to. Probably mess with my quality of writing too. But anyway, without further ado, let's start off with the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. None of these are mine except for the OCs.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 9: A Rouge's Dilemma Part One

(Location: Locker Room)

Presently, Nero was at the the locker room with his friends, taking their weapons for their training exercise in Emerald Forest. These are some of the extensive training provided by Beacon Academy to prepare the students for their future careers as Huntsmen. The objective would vary from retrieving an object to Grimm exterminations.

"Ren! You said you're gonna give me pancakes! I want 'em now, please! You promised me, Ren!" Nora was currently begging Ren to make some of his special pancakes. Everyone was laughing at the pair's interaction. They might always deny it, but the two childhood friends definitely liked each other. I mean, it's either that or Ren's a saint for putting up with Nora's eccentricities until now. And Nora clinging onto Ren like a star-struck kid just cemented the point further.

"I would've made you pancake, Nora, but you finished up all the batter this morning." The black-haired teen sighed tiredly.

"But, but, but..." Nora looked like she wanted to cry after hearing that, but then Ren gave a smile and said.

"I'll definitely make some for you tonight, okay?"

"Yaaaaay!" The bubbly girl cheered and glomped Ren who wasn't fazed by this sudden mood swing.

"Wow, he really knows how to handle Nora, huh?" Nero said amazed.

"I guess all those years of staying with her really did pay off." Azur noted.

"Or they could just be in love." Aurea sighed with a dreamy look. She truly is a sucker for romance. She then shook her head and asked. "Hey, where's Rouge?"

Azur and Nero finally realised the fact that their fourth member is missing. "Right, where is he?" Nero inquired as he looked around the room.

"I think he just left earlier." Azur said. "Which begs the question. Why? Isn't he usually the one who likes lazying around?"

Nero and Aurea had a thoughtful expression for a few moments. "Well, now that you mention it, he's been acting weird this couple of days." Aurea admitted. "I think it was after the thing at the docks with the White Fang."

"Hmmmm, but what could be the problem now?" Nero pondered. Fortunately (or unfortunately), his question will be answered sooner than he might think.

* * *

(Location: Hallway)

Meanwhile, Rouge was at the hallway, looking more stressed than anything. He's been getting eyebags as a result of his restlessness. His mind was too caught up thinking of one issue.

'Goddamit!' He screamed inwardly. 'What the hell is Sun doing here? I mean, I know he's here for the Vytal festival, but does he really need to join the tournament, knowing that I'm here?'

All of a sudden, a bursting pain coursed through his body as he gripped his chest. He took a few deep breath, and the pain finally subsided. He has been experiencing this ever since the events at the docks and he knew why. He hasn't been keeping his emotions in check, as well as his...medications.

He palmed his face and continued walking, ignoring any students passing. 'Ever since he came back, I've been experiencing flashbacks of...that.' He then remembered his conversation with Sun that night.

 **(Flashback)**

 _"Sun?" Rouge breathed out. Everyone turned to him in confusion._

 _"Wait, you know this guy, Rouge?" Yang asked curiously. Roufe just remained silent. Sun, on the other hand, was scrunching his face, trying to remember something. Then something clicked. That face..._

 _"Wait a minute. Is that you, Se-" Sun's mouth was immediately covered by Rouge who silenced him harshly. The others gave him a weird look. What was the monkey about to say that Rouge had to hide?_

 _Rouge realised that everyone was looking at him and laughed nervously. "Uhhhh, I gotta talk to this guy alone. Just gimme a minute." With that, he dragged Sun to a nearby building so people can't hear their conversation. Rouge made sure no one was following before letting Sun talk._

 _"Dude, what the hell was that for, Se-" Sun asked but again, he got shushed by Rouge harshly._

 _"Okay, first of all, don't call me that. The name's Rouge now." The redhead warned. "And secondly, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in Mistral?"_

 _Sun gave him an incredulous look. "What am I doing here? For the Vytal Festival, duh. And what's with the new name?"_

 _"You think I can get around Vale with my old name? I'd get shipped off faster than I can even say 'Dust'." Rouge growled._

 _Sun's expression turned glum. He forgot about Rouge's 'circumstances' "Dude, it wasn't your fault, okay? No one's blaming you for it."_

 _"My one hundred thousand Lien bounty reward says otherwise." The usually carefree Rouge spat with venom. "Face it Sun, the people of Vacuo hates me now. No one can change their mind, those stubborn fools."_

 _Sun looked sadly at his friend's expression. He then tried to calm the tension. "So, you studying at Beacon, eh?"_

 _Rouge gave a small smile. "Yeah, never expected to in the first place. I was happy living my life as a bartender here."_

 _The monkey Faunus chuckled. "Hey, it's a sign of progress, man." He then had a small frown. "I gotta ask though..." the redhead stared at him as he paused. "...what about your condition?"_

 _Rouge immediately clenched his fist. He didn't want to be reminded of that. "What about it?"_

 _"'What about it?' Dude, you could die from it!" Sun was horrified that Rouge would just take lightly of his condition._

 _"So? What about it?" Rouge asked. "I've joined Beacon for almost a whole semester, and nothing's stopping me, especially some stupid medical condition." He then looked away. "Besides, as long as I keep my emotions in check, and I don't use my Semblance, the symptoms can be controlled."_

 _Sun just sighed. Rouge can be a little bit stubborn. "Fine, I can't stop you now, anyway. But have you told anyone about this?"_

 _Rouge turned to him so fast, his neck might have snapped. "You're crazy or what? Why the hell should I tell them that?"_

 _"Because it's the right thing to do!" The blond cried out. "Seriously, man. You're just like Blake, hiding all your secret from your friends."_

 _"I have a good reason for hiding it, Sun." He defended. "There's no need for any of them to deal with my problem."_

 _"They've already been ever since you got into a team with them. That's the point of having the team in the first place." Sun retorted._

 _Rouge sighed heavily. This argument is going nowhere. "Look, Sun. I can handle my problem by myself. I don't need others getting into it as well."_

 _Sun just sighed and relented. "Fine. But if things started backfiring on you, don't go blaming it on me, 'cause I told you so."_

 _Rouge just rolled his eyes and nodded._

 **(Flashback ends)**

'God, it's like the world doesn't want me to move on.' He grimaced with a thought. Just then, a certain blonde brawler glomped him.

"Sup, Rouge!" She greeted cheerfully, startling Rouge out of his thoughts.

"Gah! Yang, I told you to stop doing that!" Rouge cried out in surprise. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Awww, I thought you liked it when I do that." Yang pouted.

"I'm not really in the mood for that, you know." Rouge muttered under his breath. This made Yang concerned seeing her friend so moody.

"Rouge, are you alright? You seemed a little bit...off." She asked worriedly.

"Huh, what, uhm, yeah, I'm fine, see?" He put on a fake smile to convince Yang. It didn't really work, but Yang let it pass. He'll talk to her when the time is right.

"Alright, if you say so." The blonde said, staring at him fondly. "Just remember. I'm always here if you wanna talk."

Rouge just dismissed it offhandedly. "Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you when my period comes." He got a punch to the shoulder as a result.

"Jerk." She muttered, although her grin suggests that she was joking. He returned the gesture before walking alongside her to the cliff.

* * *

(Location: Cliffside, near Emerald Forest)

"Alright, students. This will be our third training exercise for this semester, so I'm sure you are all aware of the rules." Came the voice of Glynda Goodwitch. She was the head supervisor for this exercise along with a few other staffs. "So let us go straight with your objectives. For this exercise, you will working solo to reach your goals."

'Oh god, just what I need. No backups.' Rouge thought grimly.

"Each of you will be dropped off at different points, approximately three kilometers away from your objective. From there, you are to reach the end within an hour and a half, so speed is a crucial element in this exercise." Glynda explained. "And during the start of the exercise, you will be given an item which you must carry until the end without any damages. At the end of the exercise, marks will be given according to the time taken to reach the goal, and the state of the item given. The student who gets the highest mark will get...certain priveleges, while the one with the lowest will be punished accordingly.

Before she ended her speech, she gave a dire warning. "Remember students. There will be Grimms along the path, and while the safety of item is important, your own life is much more. If you are forced into a corner, do not hesitate to leave the object behind. Is that understood?"

Everyone was silent but nodded. Soon they were all escorted by the staffs on Bullheads for the drop off. Luckily, Nero and his team was taken in the same place, so they wouldn't be that far from one another.

"Hey, Rouge. Don't get yourself distracted now. We don't want you pissing on a King Taijitu again, right?" Nero warned half jokingly, but mostly concerned with Rouge. Everyone laughed, reminded of Rouge's fumble during the initiation.

"Hey, that was one time, okay? One time." Rouge retorted back, although he was also laughing. "But, chill out, okay? I'm fine."

"Well, we're just worried about you, Rouge." Aurea joined in. "You've been acting weird this past few days."

"Geez, stop being a worrywart, Aurea. I'm just fine." The redhead rolled his eyes. Aurea really took the role of surrogate sister of the team too seriously.

"Rouge Chevalier, this is your drop off point." One of the staff informed, holding a camping bag which looks heavy. "This is your item. Don't let this go unless you're under dire circumstances."

"Well, looks like this is my cue. Wish me luck." Rouge waved to his teammates confidently. After he took the bag and slinging it to his back, he leaped off to the ground, landing with a thud. Right after that, he felt the weight of the bag dragging him down. "Well shit. What's with the bag? This thing's gotta be at least twenty kilos."

Rouge looked down at his scroll which showed a countdown for the training to start. He currently has around two minutes before it starts, so he took the time to calm his nerves. The redhead may have looked lax just now, but he was actually more nervous than ever. Reasons? Well, for starters, with his condition acting up, he was afraid that it might come up in the worst time possible. Combined that with the fact that he has no ally to cover for him at the moment, that certainly made for one nervous Huntsman-in-training.

'Let's just hope **that** doesn't act up at the shittiest moment possible.' Rouge thought to himself. The pain hasn't gone worse like just now at the hallway, but it still scared him nonetheless. 'Maybe Sun's right. I shouldn't have joined up with Beacon after all. Aghh, it's too late for that now, Chevalier. You're already in and no one's gonna stop you.'

His thoughts were interrupted when his scroll started beeping, indicating that he has thirty seconds left before the exercise starts. He got into position and readied himself.

* * *

Just like Rouge, Nero was also in position, although he had a confident grin plastered on his face. He was sure that he will pass this exercise with no problem.

'Alright, let's do this!' He thought smugly.

10...

9...

8...

* * *

Azur was standing with a calm look, although his eyes held a look of determination to finish this exercise.

'I cannot let myself get left behind by the others. I will claim victory today.' He thought resolutely.

7...

6...

5...

* * *

Aurea, on the other hand, was not having fun. She had to carry the bag with her hands as she already has her weapon bag slinged at the back. Her weapon, Angelus Gratia was a pair of metallic wings stored in her backpack which can fire Plasma Dusts from the metal 'feathers'. This made it quite heavy and having to carry it with another heavy load, it made for quite an uncomfortable trip.

'Ugh, this is so gonna suck.' She groaned inwardly.

4...

3...

2...

* * *

1...

Rouge took a deep breath and exhaled. As soon as the timer hits zero, he instantly dashed forward, until he realised one problem.

"Fuck, this bag's not helping me run any faster." He cursed. He finally knew the purpose of the bag; to hamper the students' mobility and speed. "This is soooo gonna bite me back in the ass."

The redhead tried to ignore the strain on his back and continue to march forward to his destination. In one piece preferably.

* * *

(Location: Cliffside)

It's been thirty minutes since the exercise began. Several of the students have had their encounters with the Grimms and prevailed. Others had difficulty due to the added burden they're carrying.

"It seems that some of the students are performing quite admirably." Noted Professor Ozpin, who arrived to the scene minutes before the training started.

"Some of them has also improved." Added Glynda. "I see that Mr. Arc has been faring well on his own so far. Perhaps your judgment was not far off, Professor Ozpin."

* * *

Jaune was currently fighting against a Beowolf. While his skills are still a far cry compared to his friends, Jaune has made a considerable improvement in the past few months. He has been trained by Pyrrha in his swordfighting, and Nero offered to help in improving his stamina and speed, even teaching him a little bit of close quarters combat. The two might have been a born prodigy, but Jaune was the definition of raw potential.

'I won't be the deadlast. I won't be a burden to my friends anymore. This...is my promise.' Jaune thought as he sliced off the head of a Beowolf before continuing his run.

* * *

Weiss was breathing heavily as she struggled to carry the bag. Due to her sheltered nature, heavylifting was not really her thing, and that has lead to her low strength and stamina. Perhaps, she might have to remedy the problem after this.

'I should probably work on my stamina after this is over.' The heiress huffed.

* * *

"Well, it seems that Ms. Xiao Long is leading for this exercise." Glynda informed. "Although Mr. Carbone and Mr. Castillo is not that far behind. With their speed, they should arrive within thirty minutes or so."

But Ozpin was currently interested in someone else. The enigmatic headmaster was focused on his scroll showing the footage of a certain redhead jokester.

'Rouge Chevalier. Or is that who you really are?' Ozpin thought. Rouge's admission to Beacon was quite interesting. Like Blake, he was one of the students who passed the rigorous entrance exam with flying colors despite having no background of studying in any primary Combat School. Yet his past remains unclear. The professor had his own suspicions on the teen's true identity, but he'd rather observe for now. His answer will arrive sooner or later.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rouge was traversing through the Emerald Forest quite smoothly. No Grimms so far. Although he is quite tired, what with the non-stop running and heavy strain on his back. At least he was more than halfway through the forest.

"Well, I think I should take a break." He decided. He rested himself against a tree and took the time catching his breath. "I guess I should count myself lucky that there's no Grimm right now. I guess they found better targets than little ol' me."

Little did he know, that just a few metres away, a large shadow slithered away, observing his newfound prey. The beast was waiting for the right moment to strike.

After a few minutes, Rouge finally got back up and resumed his run. But, just as he was about to start-

"URGH! GAHH!" Rouge cried out in anguish as the pain once again coursed through his body, but with much greater intensity. "Gah! Not now! Urgh, shit!"

While the redhead was writhing in pain, the Grimm finally decided to strike. It appeared out of nowhere, catching Rouge off-guard and bashed his head on the teen, knocking him away.

"Great. Just my luck to be ambushed by a Giant King Taijitu while I'm hurting all over." He growled. He immediately dodged another attempt from the snake Grimm and took off. He was still feeling the pain, but he ignored it in favor of his own survival. Thankfully, his short rest gave him enough energy to get himself a headstart, but eventually, the King Taijitu caught up.

'Shit, I can't shake this thing off me.' He thought frantically. The Grimm leaped towards him and tried swallow the jokester. Rouge closed his eyes, bracing for the pain, but it never came. When he opened his eyes, he saw the King Taijitu had missed him and instead bit the camping bag, struggling to remove it.

'I should take the opportunity to get a headstart.' He thought. Rouge took off the bag and ran away from the rampaging King Taijitu. But luck wasn't on his side right now. Only a couple of meters of running, a pack of Beowolves suddenly appeared in front of him, causing him to stop.

"Damn! You've gotta be shitting me!" He cursed. Left with no options, Rouge took out his weapon and fell into his stance, initiating combat, even though the pain has not left his body. With a battlecry, he rushed to one of the Beowolves and striked it multiple times before piercing its chest with his piledriver function. The other beowolves advanced towards him, and he fired several shots. Unfortunately, due to his pain, most of his shots missed.

'Shit. This pain is messing up my attacks.' Rouge panted. With his condition coming full circle, his battle prowess and stamina took a hit, leaving him defenseless. 'My only choice is to- No, I can't afford to use my Semblance. But it's either that or risk myself getting gobbled by a bunch of Grimms.'

His thoughts was interrupted when a Beowolf tried to swipe his face with its claws. He quickly ducked the attack and send the Grimm flying with an fiery smash with his tonfa. Rouge wasn't done though, as he threw the Beowolf away with a forward kick. Unfortunately, he was left tired and his movements were strained. Rouge was truly in a pinch now, and it's going to take a miracle to turn the tide.

'Goddamit, what am I supposed to do?' He thought grimly.

* * *

(With Ozpin)

The headmaster was currently watching the footage of Rouge. Glynda was frantic, not wanting her students to die prematurely, no matter how insufferable he is.

"Ozpin, what are we doing here standing like a fool? We're supposed to help him!" She cried out in panic, something rarely seen in the cold Huntress.

"Let's observe how the battle goes first, Glynda." Ozpin replied bluntly.

Glynda was shocked by Ozpin's attitude. "Are you serious? He will die if we don't do anything!"

The enigmatic headmaster stared calmly at his assistant and replied. "Do you really have no faith with Mr. Chevalier?" He turned back to his scroll. "Besides, I need to confirm my suspicions regarding him."

"Are you serious?!" Glynda asked. When Ozpin didn't reply, she sighed in frustration. She may have agreed with Ozpin's ideal, but certainly not his methods. "Fine, do whatever you want. But if something bad happens to him, you'll be explaining everything to his friends."

Ozpin didn't reply but his expressions shows that he understands the severity of the situation.

* * *

"Hah! I beat you, Nero!" Yang boasted with a smirk. She was the first one to finish the assignment, with Nero following after, and that is quite the rare occasion considering Nero's achievements in the past few months.

The heir sighed tiredly. She has been rubbing her victory on his face ever since he reached the end line. "Yes, Yang. You've told me that...a thousand times already."

"I believe it's actually been twenty-three times." Azur quipped smart alecky. He had gotten third place, and he was quite okay with it.

His leader sent him a deadpan look to which he only chuckled. The others were either lying on the ground in exhaustion or in Nora's case, begging Ren for pancakes.

"You...guys...are...insane" Weiss panted between breaths. "How could...you...not...possibly...get tired...after all of this?"

The trio looked at each other and shrugged before Nero replied. "I guess we just got used to it. And please, if Jaune can handle it, I'm pretty sure anyone can." He pointed to Jaune who looked slightly less tired than Weiss, but tired nonetheless.

Weiss glared at her cousin. "I'm sorry...if I'm...not build for...stamina."

"Well, then I guess you have to work on it, princess." Nero teased with a smirk. She only increased the intensity of her glare. He eased up on teasing his cousin and changed the subject. "By the way, is everyone already here?"

The group looked at each other, before realising the missing person.

"Rouge's not here yet. That's strange." Yang pondered.

"Ummm, you think he's still in the forest?" Jaune inquired.

Azur shook his head. "Unlikely. It's almost time. Everyone should be out by now."

"But, what if he is still in the forest?" Yang asked, her tone becoming increasingly frantic. Rouge was the first friend she made in Beacon, so it was understandable that she become concerned for his wellbeing. "What if he's in danger? What if he's-"

Aurea quickly interrupted her frantic thoughts and comforted her "Yang, calm down. I'm worried about him as well, but I'm sure he's fine. Rouge's a fighter and certainly not a pushover. A couple of Grimms won't stop him."

Yang calmed herself down and gave a small grin. "Yeah, I'm sure he's fine. He's a stubborn guy."

"Just like you." Aurea teased. The blonde stuck her tongue out childishly in response.

Meanwhile, Nero wasn't convinced by Aurea's words.

'I dont know why, but I got a bad feeling about this one.' He thought grimly as he stared at the forest. 'I hope it's just my imagination though.'

(Meanwhile...)

"Aargh!"

Rouge cried out in pain after he was slashed by a Beowolf. Right now, he was tired, his body was writhing in pain and he's surrounded by Grimms hungering for his flesh.

'Fuck, I'm almost out of Aura. I'm gonna die at this rate.' He thought in panic. He was cornered with no way out of this mess. As the King Taijitu closed in on him, he felt his body paralysed with fear.

'Is this how I'm gonna die? Getting eaten by Grimms?' The redhead thought. When the King Taijitu became closer, he turned hysterical. "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

When the Snake Grimm leaped for its final strike, Rouge let out a bloodcurling scream, and all of a sudden, large crystal formations appeared from the ground, piercing all the Grimms around, instantly killing them.

Rouge was still in shock, but he knew what was happening.

'No, why did I activate my Semblance?!' He was panicking. 'This is bad. Why did I activate my Semblance. It's gonna make things worse now!'

Right after he finished his thoughts, Rouge felt a new sensation of pain. It was even worse than anything he felt before. He felt like his body was torn apart from the inside. He began to cough blood and he couldn't even scream out due to the intense pain.

'Please, anyone. Help me!' He pleaded in his mind.

* * *

Fortunately, Ozpin saw everything and his prayers were answered.

"Glynda, send a medical team. Now." He ordered. Glynda nodded and quickly informed the staff. The headmaster kept watching his scroll with an blank look, although his eyes seems to be filled with concern and remorse.

* * *

The medical staffs were quick to respond and arrived at the scene within minutes ( **It wasn't that far** ). They were all shocked at what they're seeing.

"My god, this kid looks like he's been thrown to hell or something." One of the staffs gasped.

"And what's this crystals doing here?" Another of them asked.

The head quickly brought them back to attention. "Hey! We're not here to talk! We got a patient in critical condition here, so move it!" Everyone resumed their tasks, and they brought the writhing Rouge into the Bullhead. Due to the thick forest, they were having difficulty bringing him up.

"Have you identified the problem?" The head staff asked.

His underlings shook their heads. "No, sir. We'll have to bring him to Professor Peach to find out."

The man sighed in frustration. An unknown condition is always annoying for every doctor. "Fine. Strap him down first. Then we perform some diagnosis before we bring him to Peach."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

The exercise was already over by now, and Team NARA, RWBY and JNPR were still waiting for Rouge.

"Everyone's leaving by now. Where is he?" Aurea voiced out her concerns.

"Maybe something did happen." Ren suggested. "But let's not jump into conclusions first."

Nero had a thoughtful look. "How about we check out his route first?" He suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. Just as they were about to move, they were stopped by Ozpin.

"I believe that won't be necessary, Mr. Carbone." Ozpin said. "Mr. Chevalier is not in the forest anymore."

"Really? Where is he then?" Yang asked with hope.

The silver-haired man remained silent for quite a while, making them worried. "...There has been an incident in the forest involving Mr. Chevalier, and he's been sent to the infirmary under critical condition."

The students gasped in horror at Ozpin's statement. Yang immediately rushed to him. "What happened, Professor? Is he okay now? Please tell me he's okay now?" Her eyes was filled with concern for her friend.

"I haven't received anything regarding his current state, but he should be treated by now." Ozpin admitted. "I think it would be best if you seek him yourself."

Immediately, the group of friends ran off to the infirmary. Before Nero left the place, he was stopped by Ozpin for a moment.

"Nero, after your visit, I would to see you in my office. We have things to discuss regarding your teammate's...circumstances." He informed. Nero was silent but he gave a nod of confirmation before following his friends. When they were all gone, Ozpin gave a heavy sigh. Once again, he had made yet another mistake that almost cost him the life of his student, all for his own curiosity.

(Location: School Infirmary)

Yang immediately rushed over to the entrance, and was halted by the staffs outside.

"Excuse me, but no one can enter the room right now. The patient is still under treatment and cannot be disturbed." The staff warned.

Yang looked ready to beat the man but Aurea placed a comforting hand over her shoulder.

"Yang, just calm down for a sec." The elder blonde advised. "Besides, if you go in right now, things might get worse."

"She's right. We'll just have to wait for now." Pyrrha added.

Yang took a deep breath and exhaled, finally calming down. "Sorry 'bout that. I'm just worried about him."

"We're all worried, Yang, but we have to let the doctors do their job." Aurea said with a sisterly smile. Ever since she entered Beacon, Aurea has been something of a mother/sister figure for Team RWBY, NARA and JNPR, scolding them when they were messing around, even comforting them when they were feeling down.

After what felt like hours of waiting, the door finally opened up, and Professor Peach came out from the room. Peach was around her twenties, with long brown hair, a smooth complexion and a figure like a model. She was wearing a green V-neck sweater and a white lab coat alongside a black pencil skirt reaching down her knees. ( **A/N: Just my take on how she looks like** )

"Oh you're all here. That saves me the time to look for you, people." She spoke up, staring at the group of students. "Now, I would like a word with his teammates."

"Wait, what about us?" Yang asked.

"Well, you'll just have to wait until we're done with our discussion." She replied bluntly. The blonde tried to protest but a look from the school nurse quickly stopped her. "Now, come on. I dont have all day."

Aurea, Azur and Nero looked at their friends and followed the professor to the infirmary. When they entered, they saw Rouge lying on the bed, strapped down with some machines. He was currently awake, weakly grinning at them. The three immediately rushed to their friends.

"Rouge!" They all cried out.

"Hey guys. What's up?" He rasped out, his throat sore from his ordeals.

They gave him incredulous looks before Aurea spoke up. "'What's up'? Is that all you have to say? What's wrong with you!" She cried out angrily. "We were worried sick when we heard that you got sent to the infirmary, and that is all you have to say?! You're lucky you're lying on the bed right now or I'll-"

Peach then interrupted her angry rant. "Now, now. We still have a lot to discuss here, so let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

"What is it that you wanted to discuss, Professor?" Nero asked politely.

"Well, for starters, Mr. Chevalier's condition, of course." She began. She turned her attention to Rouge and gave a serious look. "Now, when the staff found you at the forest, you were lying on the ground, writhing in pain and coughing up blood, correct?" Rouge only nodded as a response. "Well, when you were sent to the infirmary, it was quite a hassle stabilising you down, seeing as you got your Aura depleted, and it seems that your muscles were burning up all over your body, which explains your pain, inflammation on your throat, and minor cardiac arrest. Suffice to say, this is not a simple case of physical or mental exhaustion."

The three were shocked and horrified by Professor's Peach statement. Their teammate was that close to the Death's Door? Rouge, however, knew the severity of the situation.

The brunette nurse then continued. "Well, you can spout whatever reasons you want, and I won't believe it. You need to know that this is a much more severe case than you think it is." She then took a file from her desk and skimmed through it. "So, after I did some more analysis on you, I finally found out the cause. Tell me, Mr. Chevalier." She closed the folder and stared coldly at Rouge who looked nervous. She then slammed the file on her table, surprising the four. "Why did your file not include anything on you having a Stage 3 Semblance Breakdown?!"

Rouge was shocked by her knowledge.

'How did she find out?' He thought. Meanwhile, the others were confused.

"Semblance Breakdown? What's that?" Nero asked curiously.

Peach looked at the three before sighing. "Right. I forgot about that. I'll explain briefly on what Semblance Breakdown is." She cleared her throat before continuing. "Semblance Breakdown is a condition where your Semblance is damaged due to extreme trauma, both physical and mental. Now, there are three stages of Semblamce Breakdown, but I'll just skip to the third one. At Stage Three, the Semblamce becomes so damaged that any use of it will kill the user or in some minor cases..." she send a pointed look at Rouge. "...cripple them."

All three of them were wide-eyed after her explanation.

"...And Rouge has this condition?" Nero asked in a low tone.

"For quite some time, apparently." She replied.

"Is there any cure for it?" Aurea asked desperately. She didn't want to see her friend die this early. No one does.

"As far as I'm concerned, there has been no cure for it other than your will. Even then, out of 10 people, only one people were cured and lived." She revealed. This made the three look more scared than anything. "Now, I'm curious, Rouge. Why have you not included this in your file?"

"Uhhh, I-" He tried to explain but he simply couldn't find the right words.

Professor Peach sighed tiredly. "Well, I've forwarded all of this to Professor Ozpin, so I'm sure you'll have a word with him soon. But for now, you are to stay here until I deem you stable enough for any normal school activities. Is that understood?"

"...Yes, Professor Peach." He replied, although his voice sound depressed.

She turned to the other three. "Well, you three. I'll inform you when anything comes up. I'll inform your other friends that they can visit him after this."

Azur, Aurea and Nero looked at each other, silently agreeing to something. Nero then spoke up. "Actually, Professor. I think we would like some time alone before they can go visit."

The brunette stared at them for a few seconds before shrugging. "Sure. I can accept that. Now if that's all." She then walked out of the infirmary, leaving Team NARA alone. After a few moments of silence, Rouge finally spoke up.

"So, what is it?" He asked. They simply stared at him, making him uncomfortable. "What?"

"Rouge, why didn't you tell us any of this before?" Nero asked with a sad expression.

"I don't see the need to. It wasn't important anyway." Rouge turned his face away.

"'Not important'. Are you kidding me?" They were flabbergasted by Rouge's dismissal of his condition. "This is serious Rouge. You could die from this!"

"You think I don't know?!" Rouge lashed out, surprising them. "I've had this thing for seven months now. I know the risks."

"Then why didn't you tell us?!" Nero cried out angrily. "What? You don't trust any of us to inform us about this?"

"Nero, that's enough." Aura scolded her leader. "Rouge's got enough stress dealing with all of this. We don't need you adding more."

The heir looked at his team before sighing in frustration. "I just want to know the reason you didn't tell us about this?"

Rouge remained silent for a while. Then he replied. "It's complicated, Nero. Trust me. I dont want you guys worrying over me about this. This is my problem and mine alone. I don't need you guys dealing with my problem, thats all."

"Then you're a fool." Azur retorted. Rouge stared at him in surprise. "We're your teammates now, Rouge. We're gonna help you whether you like it or not. Just like you guys did with me."

Rouge only shook his head. "You guys don't understand. This problem involved my past, and if I tell you guys about it...you won't see me the same way anymore."

"What do you mean?" Aurea asked in confusion.

"...Can you guys leave me alone? I need to rest."

Aurea tried to protest but Nero stopped her. He looked at the redhead and sighed. "When can the others visit you? Yang's worried sick about you."

"Maybe tomorrow?" He responded, giving them a weak smile.

The skunk-haired teen nodded and motioned the other to leave the infirmary. Just before he left, Rouge heard a few words from Nero.

"If you change your mind, you can talk to us okay?"

After they left, the room was filled with silence. Rouge was staring up the ceiling blankly. Then he spoke.

"I can't. It hurts too much."

When Team NARA exited the room, everyone immediately rushed over to them

"How is he? Is he okay now? Can we visit him?" Yang rambled on.

They waited for her to calm down before Nero answered. "He's fine. He just need more rest before he can be released. And he said that we can visit him again tomorrow."

"Is that really what happened?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes. Everyone turned their eyes to the Faunus girl. "I heard a lot of shouting just now. And it doesn't sound pleasant at all. So please, tell us the truth. Is he really okay?"

"You're quite sharp, Blake. I'll give you that." Nero admitted. Then he explained in detail about what really happened. After he was done, everyone was left crying.

"That's horrible. Why does it have to be Rouge?" Ruby sobbed.

Aurea can only shake her head. "We don't know. He wouldn't tell us."

"That jerk. I'll make him talk." Yang marched angrily to the infirmary but was held back by Nero. "Nero, let me go. I'm gonna bash that asshole-"

"Yang, stop." He commanded. The blonde immediately stopped at the cold voice of the heir. "Just let it go. He'll talk sooner or later. Right now, he needs to recover."

"But we just want to help him! Why is that so wrong huh?!" Yang retorted, with tears running down her face.

"Look, Yang. Whatever happened in the past made him like this." Nero explained. "If you truly want to help him, we need tread carefully or else he'll just get even worse. Give him some space first. If he wants to open up, then we'll let him do that. But if he doesn't, we just wait." He gave the blonde a determined look. "I know it's hard, but if you really like him, then you'll bear with it. Okay?"

Yang stared at him for a few seconds before huffing. "Fine. But I still think he's a douche for hiding this from us?"

"Yeah, but you still like him, right?" The heir said with a smirk.

"What?!" Yang cried out, flustered. "What are you talking about?! I don't like Rouge!"

Nero rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You've been worrying about him since we were at the forest. You were blushing when I said that you like him. And most of all, I've seen you staring at him when no one was looking. So admit it, Yang. You like that redhead, don't you?"

Yang was stammering after Nero's rebuttal, and it didn't help that others were looking at her curiously. Eventually she cracked. "Okay, fine. I like that idiot. You happy?"

"Awwww, that's so cute!" Aurea squealed. "I almost thought he would never get a girlfriend."

Yang turned away, trying to hide her blush. Everyone laughed at this. And this was what they needed. A breather after all the things happening today.

"Well, that was nice." Nero said after recovering from his laughs. "Well, how about me and Ren cook up some meals for dinner? Is that cool?"

Everyone whooped in agreement. Nero and Ren was the best chefs amongst their group of friends, although that isn't saying much, seeing as almost half of them can't even cook properly, including Pyrrha, who almost burned the kitchen trying to boil water.

When they were about to leave, Nero remembered something.

"Oh, right. I have to meet up with Professor Ozpin." He realised. "You guys go ahead. I'll be back. Don't worry." He immediately ran off towards the Headmaster's Office, leaving the others in confusion.

* * *

When Nero arrived at the office, he was greeted by the sighy of Ozpin, sitting on his special chair.

"Ah, Nero. It's good to see you." He greeted.

"Sorry, sir. I got a little bit caught up just now." Nero apologised.

"It's okay. I understand that things have been quite...difficult for your team."

"Yeah, it is." He straightened up and addressed the subject. "So, what is it that you need from me, Professor?"

"Ah, yes. About that. How about you take a seat first? This may get a little bit tense." Nero complied and took a seat. "Now then, I've presumed you've visited Mr. Chevalier at the infirmary?" Nero just nodded, confused by where this is going. "And Professor Peach has filled you in with the details of his...condition?" Another nod. "And I gather that he hasn't-"

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't understand where you're going with this." Nero interrupted, quite frustrated with Ozpin's delay. "Can you just tell me why I'm here?"

The silver-haired man sighed. "Well if you say so. Very well then." The man stared at Nero intently. "After the events that transpired today, I regret to inform you that..."

Ozpin paused for quite some time, worrying Nero on what exactly does the headmaster have to say.

"Professor?" He asked.

"I regret to inform you that Mr. Chevalier will be expelled from this academy."

* * *

 **Author's Note: ANNNND DONE! Damn, that was tiring. Honestly, this chapter took a lot of time of thinking before I even started on the plans. Well, first off, Rouge's condition is obviously not something that is canon, so I had to think off how to make the condition looks legit and all. Secondly, how to trigger that condition back. Initially, I tried going for a classroom spar gone wrong, but let's be serious, it's called a spar for a reason. There's no way in hell anyone is going to fight to the death in a spar. So, it took me couple more days to think things through. But all in all, I made a decent job considering all the possible plotholes that might come up in the future.**

 **Anyway, yeah, Rouge's past hasn't been fully revealed, but there's already bits and pieces of it. So stay tuned for the second part! When that will happen? Not sure XD. Like I said, my updates are sporadic as hell. It could be fast like this one, but more often than not, it will take weeks to update it, so hang in there people. And as usual, if you liked this chapter, Follow, Fav and give your reviews on it. You find something wrong with it? Post a review. Want to piss me off with a review? Please do so and I'll PM you a big ass middle finger XD. Anyway, stay cool, people.**

 **KOB, signing out.**


	10. Ch 10 A Rouge's Dilemma Part 2

**Author's Note: Sup, everyone! *sigh* Guess I owe you lots some explanation eh? Well, first of all, I'm really sorry for the extremely late update. Reasons being, writers block hit me like a bitch, and college work REALLY kept me busy most of the time, so I haven't really got much time to touch on my writings. Also, I'm sure some of you guys already know about this, but if you don't, I'll tell ya anyway. I started writing a new fanfic for Ace Attorney, titled Oath of Khurain. If any of you are interested, just check out my profile, and you should be able to find, and please do check it out. Any form of supports from you guys is deeply appreciated.**

 **Anyway, let's not waste anymore time. This is Chapter 10 of Our Purpose.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to RWBY. They're all a property of Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP). Again, OCs are mine, so if you want to have a use for it, please ask me for permission.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 10: A Rouge's Dilemma Part 2

(Location: Ozpin's Office)

"WHAT?!" Was the outrageous cry by Nero after he heard Ozpin's statement.

"I'm sorry, but your friend Rouge will have to leave the academy." Ozpin stated.

"Under what grounds, sir?" Nero asked dangerously. Headmaster or not, he'll be damned if someone messed with his friends.

Ozpin gave a sigh before explaining. "I'm sure you've been informed of Mr. Chevalier's condition. Unfortunately, for some reason, this illness of his was nowhere stated in his medical records, despite the fact that it should..." Nero stared at the headmaster in confusion while he continued. "...so I did some research regarding his backgrounds and I've discovered that...all of his records were fake."

"What do you mean?" Nero asked, although he was not looking forward to Ozpin's response.

"What I'm saying is that, your friend Rouge Chevalier does not exist, officially." He replied.

The looks of disbelief on Nero was indescribable, but understandable. After all, he just found out that his friend doesn't technically exist.

"So, all this time...?"

Ozpin nodded. "He entered Beacon under a fake identity, using false transcripts, and although he has not done any suspicious acts so far, we still don't know his true intentions of joining Beacon. I cannnot charge him for forgery of offical documents due to him being a minor, so I have to go with the other options."

"B-but, what if he was just here to study, Professor? Rouge didn't do anything wrong?!" Nero argued desperately.

"It still doesn't change the fact that he applied using forged documents. And with his condition right now..." He paused for a moment. "...It seems that the best option is for him to quit being a Huntsman."

Nero was too shocked by Ozpin's words to respond. His friend was about to get expelled and there's nothing he can do. Ozpin may have a point, but still...

"Professor, you can't do this." He pleaded to the headmaster. "I may not know who he is now, but his dream...he wants to be a Huntsman, sir. You can't just do this."

"Nero, I'm sorry but-"

Ozpin was interrupted by Nero who slammed his hands on the desk. "Please, Professor. Give him a chance. He deserved it. And our team...our team wouldn't be complete without that fool."

Ozpin remained silent with a calm expression. He then gave Nero a cold stare, making him shiver in fear.

"Who do you think you are, to make me turn around my decision?" He stated coldly.

Nero was scared of the headmaster, but stood his ground.

"But sir, I-" He was confused when he heard Ozpin chuckling. "Uhh, what?"

When the man was done, he spoke. "I'm sorry, but I was just testing you there." He gave a heartfelt smile to the heir. "It's quite refreshing to see one of my students having such loyalty ingrained in his character. Very well, Mr. Carbone. I will make you a deal."

Nero sighed in relief and smiled. "Thank you, professor."

Ozpin shook his head. "Do not thank me yet. Your friend Rouge is still not out of the woods." He held his hand up when Nero was about to protest before continuing. "Now, I will hold my decision until the end of the semester which is in ten days. So, what I want you to do is to cure his condition."

...

...

...

"Excuse me?" He really thought he heard wrong.

"If you can cure Mr. Chevalier's condition before the semester ends, then I will retract my decision of expelling him." Ozpin summarised.

"What?! How am I supposed to do that?" Nero asked flabbergasted. He may have been good in a lot of things, but being a doctor certainly isn't one of them.

"Don't worry. I'm not asking you to perform any surgery, Mr. Carbone." Ozpin reasoned with the heir. "What I want you to do is to find out the root of his problem. Find out what exactly triggered his Semblance Breakdown."

"And what would that do?" The teen asked confused.

"Well, Nero. Not many people know about this, but our Aura is tied down to our emotions, and from that, our Semblance as well." The silver-haired man explained. "It gets stronger with every surge of emotions, but if you lose control of it, you lose control of your Semblance, even to the point of it working against you. Do you understand so far?"

Nero nodded and motioned the professor to continue.

"Now, Semblance Breakdown happens when a huntsman experienced a trauma so deep that it cause the Semblance to spiral out of control. Now, the trigger is different with every patient, but it usually involves a negative emotion suppressed inside them, effectively placing a mental restraint. Now if you can deduce the root, you can-"

"Find the suppressed emotion and help him deal with it, removing the mental barriers so he can control his Semblance back." Nero said, finally realising Ozpin's point.

"Exactly." Ozpin smirked.

Nero thought this over. While it may sound like an easy task, he knew it was going to be difficult. Rouge might have been the cheerful guy, but he has never revealed anything about his past, as he always clamps up whenever the subject was brought up. Still, this was the only chance he had to make Rouge stay.

"Alright, sir. I'll do it." Nero said with a determined look. "It's gonna be hard, but this is my only choice."

"Very well. Though I do advice that you keep this a secret from Mr. Chevalier, for his own good." Ozpin warned. Nero nodded in agreement. Although he wasn't happy with it, he understood Ozpin's intention. "Very well. You can leave now. I look forward to your progress."

Nero then left the room, leaving Ozpin alone to ponder on his thoughts.

'I hope this is the right move in my part. Or else a young man's life will be in my hand...again.' He thought grimly.

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

As Nero walked to his room, he was thinking on his situation.

'First things first. How do I get Rouge to tell us about his past?' He thought. He tried to come up with a plan, but failed and eventually he let it rest. Perhaps some food would re-energise him.

Just as he approached his room, he suddenly heard noises coming from inside. Curious, he opened the door and was greeted by quite a sight.

All of his friends was inside the room. Yang and Azur were struggling for dominance as they arm-wrestled on a small table they got out of nowhere while Ruby, Weiss and Aurea were cheering for their teammates. Nora was gobbling up on her usual mountain stacks of pancakes while Ren sighed at her exuberance. Blake sat at the corner, reading her book while taking small bites of her food. Jaune and Pyrrha was somehow, playing a video game(which was probably from Yang) and Jaune was winning. Hard.

The heir shook his head. He almost forgot about the party they organised.

"Hey, guys. Nice to see you making yourself comfortable here." He said, attracting the attentions of everyone who looked at him, except for the two who were still arm-wrestling.

"Nero!" Ruby cried out giddily. "Where've you been? You're missing out on all the fun!"

"I got called by Ozpin just now. Got something to talk about." He explained.

This piqued their interest. "What is it?" Aurea asked.

"I'll tell you guys later." He said dismissively. "For now, I'm hungry and I hope you guys left me some!" And thankfully, they did. After he ate, everyone resumed the party for almost an hour. They played all sorts of games, from spin the bottle to the staring game, even setting a fighting game mini tournament. They had a lot of fun, and some embarrassing moments, especially during the Truth and Dare, when Yang dared Ruby to sit on Nero's lap until the end of the game. The two couldn't stop blushing at their close contact. But now, it was time to get serious.

"So, you mind telling us what happened at the Headmaster's office?" Aurea repeated her question.

Nero sighed tiredly. He didn't really want to tell them, but he needed help. "Well, Ozpin and I were discussing about Rouge's condition." Everyone's expression turned glum, especially Yang. "And he said that...Rouge will be expelled from Beacon."

...

...

...

" **WHAT?!** "

Yang instantly slammed Nero to a wall, holding him at choke point. Her eyes were red as she glared at Nero with anger.

"You better be joking or I'll rip your head off." She growled. Nero was scared inwardly, but he didn't show it. Instead, he returned with a cold stare.

"Do you really think I'm the kind of guy to joke about this?" He asked calmly. He flinched when the blonde punched the wall next to him, but was also relieved that his head was safe, for now.

"Why the hell would Ozpin do that?!" She asked angrily, obviously mad at the decision.

"Because he's not Rouge Chevalier." He revealed calmly. He waited a few seconds for their reaction.

"What?" Aurea breathed out in shock.

"I'm not sure of the details, but 'Rouge' apparently used some fake transcripts to apply to Beacon. Every file they got about him was forged. Thats what Ozpin told me." He explained. Jaune couldn't help but flinch at the mention of fake transcripts, but was also shocked like the rest. "And also, with Rouge's condition right now, it would be best if he just quit being a Huntsman right now."

"How could you say that?!" Yang cried out indignantly. "Rouge's your friend!"

"Do you think I'm happy with it?!" Nero retorted angrily, surprising Yang. "I tried to defend him, trust me."

The mood in the room turned somber. How could they not? One of their friends was getting expelled and they can't do anything.

"So that's it? No more Team NARA?" Azur snorted angrily. "What's going to happen with the three of us then?"

"Hey, hey. I didn't say I failed to defend him right?" Nero interjected, getting their attentions back. "I managed to make a deal with Ozpin."

He got a bonk on the head courtesy of Aurea. "Why didn't you tell us sooner, idiot?! You had us worried there!"

The skunk-haired teen mumbled an apology before explaining. "Well, the details are a little bit fuzzy, but what we have to do is help Rouge recover from his condition."

...

...

...

 **"WHAT?!"**

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?! We're not doctors!" Yang cried out flabbergasted.

"I was about to explain that before you interrupted me!" He hissed angrily, and Yang rubbed her neck sheepishly and apologised. "Geez, she having her period or what?" He mumbled lowly, but Yang managed to hear him.

"What did you say?!" She glared daggers at him while he yelped in fear.

"N-nothing, I swear." Nero squeaked out. He cleared his throat to reduce the tension before continuing. "Anyway, I know none of us are doctors here, and no Nora, playing doctor as a kid doesn't count..." He shot down Nora's question before she said it, causing her to pout. "...but what we have to do is find out what exactly caused the trauma that triggered his Semblance Breakdown and help him recover from it. From there, he should be able to use his Semblance back safely and Ozpin will take back his decision. So, how about it guys? You want to help?"

Everyone stared at one another, with a determined expression to help their friend. They turned back at Nero and gave a resolute nod. He gave a grin, before quickly turning into a scowl.

"Nero, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"It's not gonna be easy doing all this." He replied. "First off, we have until the end of semester to do this." This information surprised them. "And Rouge isn't just gonna spill his past that easily. He's more closed off like that."

This left them all thinking on how to approach the currently bedridden redhead. After a while, Blake finally lit up with an idea.

"How about we ask Sun?" She suggested, but everyone else was confused.

"Who's Sun?" Aurea asked. Blake blinked before realising that she was the only one who had a real conversation with Sun and therefore, know him.

"He was the Faunus we met during the incident at the docks." She explained, and everyone quickly understood. "If I remembered correctly, doesn't he know about Rouge seeing as the two came from Vacuo?"

Nero snapped his fingers. "Right. And Rouge seemed like he knew Sun when we first met. So he probably knows something about him."

"So, if we can find him and ask him about Rouge, we can find out about Rouge's past." Aurea finished Nero's thought.

"Hopefully. He might not be willing to reveal the information as well." Weiss said, causing others to deflate.

"Do you really have to be pessimistic, Weiss?" Yang groaned.

The white-haired girl merely shrugged. "I'm trying to be realistic here. We can't just hope on that...boy for information." She quickly held her tongue when Blake was staring at her. "We need another plan in case this one fails."

"Hate to say it, but she's right." Ren agreed begrudgingly. "Is there any other way to get the information?"

Nero and Weiss looked at each other before sighing. Then, Nero spoke up. "Well, there is another way, though I don't really like it." Everyone's attention were turned to them. "Well, maybe we could pull a few strings and get the info using our families. I don't really like it, but it seems that we have no choice here."

The eleven freshmen discussed a little bit more, and they agreed to talk to Sun first before trying to use Nero's family connections to find out about Rouge's past. Yang also said that she can attempt to talk to Rouge when they're visiting him tomorrow. The discussion was then over and Team RWBY and JNPR left the room, leaving the three to rest.

"Let's just hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow." Nero sighed as they all lied in their bed.

"Well, we can only hope for the best, can we?" Azur said.

"Don't worry guys. I'm sure everything's gonna be fine." Aurea reassured the two. "For now, lets just get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." She and Azur soon lulled themselves to sleep, leaving Nero awake. Truthfully, he wasn't comforted by Aurea's words at all. Things has went wrong when it comes to their group of friends, whether it be by sheer coincidence or a mistake of their own. So, he felt justified in thinking that their plan wouldn't end on a good note. But right now, some rest is what he needed, and thar was exactly what he did.

* * *

(Location: Downtown Vale)

The plan was in action. Nero is currently searching for the whereabouts of Sun and so far, no luck. The monkey Faunus was much harder to find than he expected, and the large size of the city didn't do anything to make his search any more easier.

"Ugh, thank you very much Blake for the useless information." Nero groaned sarcastically. Blake gave her information about his whereabouts which turned out to be a dead end. "Now where am I supposed to find him?!"

His prayers were quickly answered when he heard a scream. He turned to see, lo and behold, Sun carrying some fruits on his arms while getting chased by some angry mobs.

"Hey, get back here you filthy thief!"

"You no-good Faunus!"

Sun simply cackled mischievously and passed by Nero before taking a turn around the corner. Realising his opportunity, the leader of Team NARA quickly took chase. The blond then saw that he had another pursuer to outrun.

"Uh oh, this one looks tough." He put a quick burst of speed and turned left towards an alley. Nero did the same, and came just in time to see the monkey Faunus using his acrobatic skills to easily leap over a five-metre tall metallic fence. Not giving up, Nero activated his Semblance and charged his legs, giving him a boost to leap over the fence, leaving the angry mobs behind. Right after he landed, Nero resumed his chase, eventually catching up to Sun. The blond did not quit however, and tried to outrun the heir, but his attempt was stopped when Nero tackled him to the ground. "Hey! What're you doing?! Get off me!"

"I just want to ask you a few questions!" The skunk-haired teen explained.

"Then why did you chase me?!" Sun hissed angrily.

"'Cause you were running away from those angry mobs, you dumbass! Of course, I have to chase after you!" Nero retorted in annoyance.

"Oh, right." The prankster realised his actions before rubbing his neck sheepishly.

Nero rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation. This is becoming more troublesome than he thought.

* * *

The two now stood at the rooftop of one of the buildings and Nero watched gapingly as Sun gobbled through the foods he stole. Once he was done, Nero gave a deadpan look.

"You really do break the law without a second thought?" He said. Sun perked up when he heard that familiar sentence.

"Hey, Blake said that to me once. You're her friend or something?" He asked eagerly.

"Yeah. We actually met during the night at the docks, remember?" Nero tried to remind the blond. Sun scrunched his face for a moment before realising who he is.

"Wait, you're that guy who came with Se- I mean Rouge, yeah Rouge!"

Nero raised an eyebrow at the Faunus' slip of tongue but held his questions for another more important one. "Anyway, I gotta ask you something 'bout him. You don't mind?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Do...do you know what happened to Rouge in the past?" The heir asked, making Sun freeze up. "You know something about it, do you?"

Sun was conflicted whether or not to tell the truth. "I, uhh, I can't. He made me promise not to."

"Sun, you have to help us. I have to bring Rouge out of his condition or else he'll be expelled from Beacon."

"...He told you about his conditions already?"

Nero merely snorted. "As if. His condition was acting up, that's how we found out."

"Shit, I think that was my fault." Sun cursed himself inwardly. He felt bad for making his friend suffer again.

Nero was confused by his words however. "What do you mean?"

Sun then explained. "I guess seeing me again triggered his memories of the incident and I guess his guilt brought the condition back." The atmosphere turned silent as Sun turned his back cursing silently. "He should've listened to me. That dumbass."

"So, you want to talk now?" Nero brought back the issue.

Unfortunately, the blond shook his head. "Sorry, man. Se- he made me promise not to tell anyone, and I never break my promise."

The skunk-haired teen sighed in defeat. "It's okay. I can't force you anyway." Nero walked towards the door, to leave the Faunus alone, and Sun couldn't help but feel guilty about his actions.

'Ah, screw it. If I can't tell them, I'll give them a clue. Sorry, man. It's for your own good.' Sun thought. "Hey, wait!"

"Huh?"

"I can't tell you exactly what happened to him, but I can give you a hint." The monkey said.

Nero raised an eyebrow. "Really? You sure about this? I thought you don't want to break your promise."

Sun just shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm not telling you what happened exactly. I'm just dropping some hints about it. I'm not really breaking any promises as far as I'm concerned." He had a devious smirk while saying it. "Anyway, search for Octavius Hamar. That'll probably lead you to something."

"Octavius Hamar? Who's that?" Nero asked.

"Someone he knows personally. That's all I can say."

Nero nodded. At the very least he got a lead to go with. He then gave the prankster a genuine smile. "Thanks, Sun. This could be useful."

"Eh, no problem. It's good to help you uhhh..."

The heir blinked for a while before realising that he hasn't introduced himself. "Oh, sorry. I'm Nero Carbone. Nice to meet you." He offered a handshake which Sun accepted.

"Same here. The name's Sun Wukong. You seem like a cool guy. How 'bout we hang out after you're done and all?"

"Sure, anytime." He then bid farewell to his new friend before leaving the rooftop. He was overall satisfied with his search. Sure, he didn't get any solid information, but some leads was enough for him anyway. 'Hmmm, how's Yang doing anyway?'

* * *

(Location: Infirmary)

The blonde brawler was seen breathing deeply as if meditating, when actually, she was just standing in front of the entrance of the infirmary. Everyone decided that it was best if Yang were to visit him Rouge, although she had the sneaking suspicions that they did it because they found out about her attraction to the redhead. And there she were, standing in front of the door, holding a basket filled with foods (prepared by mostly Ren and herself), nervous as a high school girl about to ask her crush on a date.

'Calm down, Yang. You got this, girl.' She reassured herself. 'You're just visiting your friend here. Nothing more.' After taking one last deep breath, she entered the infirmary, putting her usual spunky smile. "Hey, Rouge!"

The bedridden teen instantly perked up at the sight of Yang, before a mouth-watering scent filled the air. A sniff and he instantly recognised the smell. "Mmmhmm. Is that spicy tacos I smell?"

"What? No greeting for me? I'm hurt, Rouge." Yang put up a mock hurt expression.

Rouge rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry. Hey, Yang. Didn't expect you to visit this early. Is it just you?"

Yang took a seat next to the bed before answering. "Yeah, everyone had other things to do, so I came here alone. And for your question earlier..." The blonde opened up the basket and took out the food inside. "...you got it. Spicy tacos, just what you wanted. Ren and I made it."

The redhead drooled at his favorite food, but held himself back. "Thanks, Yang. It's been ages since I had this."

"Aww, don't mention it." Yang then gave one of the tacos to him, which he immediately gobbled, before taking another one out of the basket. "Ren made it less spicy though. We don't want you to get your stomach upset and all, right?"

"It won't be a good sight, that's for sure." Rouge muttered lowly, bringing concern on Yang's face.

"Rouge?" She called out. "Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Uh, oh yeah, everything's fine, don't worry." He replied with a fake smile, trying to put on a brave facade.

Unfortunately, Yang saw right through it. She gave him a look of concern. "Rouge, please. Just tell me the truth."

Rouge just kept his smile before it eventually fell. The normally upbeat teen gave a depressed sigh. "Guess I can't lie to your face huh?" He had a look of defeat all over him. "Who am I kidding, Yang? My life's all messed up now. I can't even fight properly without almost dying. I'm not even surprised if Ozpin wants to expel me out of Beacon."

Yang had to hold back a flinch after Rouge's statement, seeing as he wasn't that far off the truth. "You know that's not gonna happen, Rouge."

The redhead scoffed. "Yeah, right. I'm nothing more than deadweight, Yang. Next time I'm on the battlefield, I might as well be served on a silver platter." He stared at the ceiling solemnly. "Let's face it, Yang. My team doesn't need me anymore."

"No! That's not true!" Yang exclaimed, slamming her hands on the bedside. "They care for you, Rouge. Of course they need you. And we all do."

Rouge simply shook his head. "Yang, I already told Nero this. I don't need you guys worrying about me anymore."

"But why?! Why can't we help you?" Yang asked angrily. She was getting frustrated with his flippant attitude towards his condition.

"Because it's my problem, Yang. It's my problem, so it should be me who has to deal with it, not any of you guys." Rouge explained.

"It's our problem now, Rouge! You can't just shun us out like this!" The blonde gritted her teeth in frustration.

The bedridden teen hardened his expression. "I can and I will. I don't want you guys to pry into my problems, and that's final!"

"Why do you have to be so stubborn, Rouge?! I just want to help you!" Yang snarled in frustration.

"And I'm telling you, Yang. I don't NEED your help!" Rouge insisted. He then turned away, his bangs shadowing his eyes. "It's just not worth your time."

Yang just sat there, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. In the end, she threw her arms up in anger. "Fine, you don't want your friends to help you? Suit yourself!" She stood up and made her way out of the room. But her anger was lost and replaced with concern when he heard Rouge mutter something lowly. He must've thought that she couldn't hear it but she did, and what she heard shocked her to the core.

"I don't think you'd want to be friends with a murderer."

* * *

(Location: Dormitory)

Everyone was gathered at the lounge, waiting for Nero who was still in Downtown Vale. Yang was sitting at the couch, deep in thought after her visit to the infirmary.

'Rouge can't be a murderer.' She thought. 'I mean, he looks so cheerful and everything. There's no way he would do something like that, right?' This was the question she had been asking herself for the past thirty minutes. At first, she contemplated on telling the others about this piece of information, but ultimately decided not to. She was afraid of that everyone might change their opinion on Rouge, especially with Weiss over there.

"Nero!" Yang was snapped out of her thoughts when Ruby called the leader of Team NARA, who just arrived. He held a neutral expression on his face, making it hard to decipher his feelings. "How'd it go?" The girl asked.

The skunk-haired teen shrugged. "Not what I expected, but I still got something." He took a seat first before continuing, with his friends waiting for the results of his investigation. "Well, Sun didn't tell me anything about what happened with Rouge..." Everyone groaned at his words. "...but..." They perked up again. "...he did gave me a lead that could help us."

"What is it, then?" Aurea asked curiously.

"Someone named Octavius Hamar. Don't know who he is really, but it's all I could get."

The elder blonde sighed. "Well, that's a start, I guess. Want to check it out right now?"

"Might as well. We need to solve this as soon as possible." Nero said.

With that said, Aurea and Nero left for the library to do their research, but as they leave, Yang called out to Nero.

"What is it Yang?" He was curious on why the brawler called for him.

"I got something to tell you. Alone." She replied, emphasising on the 'alone' part. The others were confused with Yang's action

"Can't you just say it here?" Weiss asked incredulously, annoyed with Yang's secrecy. The blonde shook his head.

"I can't. I'm only trusting Nero with this 'cause I have no other choice." She insisted. Nero looked around and sighed, agreeing with her request. She then dragged him to her dorm room, making sure no one was following.

"What's with all this secrecy, Yang? Is it really that important?" Nero asked.

"It's something about Rouge." That got him interested. "But I can't tell this to the others. So promise me to keep it a secret."

"But why can't we tell-"

"Promise me, Nero." Yang said with a grim expression. The leader of Team NARA hesitated at first, not wanting to keep any secrets with his teammates, but eventually complied.

"Okay, I promise. What is it?"

"I...I heard Rouge said something when I was about to leave the infirmary, and it's kinda...bad." The blonde revealed. "I don't think he knew that I heard him, but he said something about..."

"About what?" Nero asked, although he had a bad feeling about her response.

"He...he..." Yang couldn't bring her voice out, afraid of Nero's reaction.

"C'mon Yang. Just tell me already!" Nero barked, annoyed with Yang's constant delay.

"He said something about killing someone in the past." She finally blurted out.

The room became silent after Yang's statement came through. The blonde just stared at Nero with worry, afraid of his reaction. He was blinking his eyes in confusion before her words finally settled in.

"Are you sure, Yang?" He asked softly, with a pale expression combining shock, sadness and fear.

"Hundred percent sure." Yang replied confidently.

After a few seconds of silence, Nero ran his hand through his hair, releasing a sigh of exasperation. Of all the things he expected from Yang, this was definitely not one of them. He now understood why she was so secretive about it. "And you're telling me this, because the guy Sun mentioned..." Nero realised the implications of this new information.

"He could be the guy the Rouge killed." Yang theorised.

"You know this is not making me feeling any better, right?" He groaned.

"Trust me. You're not the only one." The blonde was also in the same boat as Nero. She was unhappy with how thing goes and this information certainly helped making them feel worse than before. "But I think it's the only way we can find the truth."

Nero nodded in agreement. "Well, from what we just discussed, I think it's best if we don't tell the others about this." Especially Weiss. She may have changed over the past few months, but if she knew about this, no doubt she would want nothing to do with him anymore.

"Damn right. The less people who know about this, the better." Yang concurred. "Well, I guess you should go. Aurea's waiting for you."

"Yeah, I probably should." With that he walked out of the room, and met up with Aurea, who was tapping her foot in annoyance.

"What's taking you so long, Nero?" She asked with narrowed eyes. "And what did she tell you?"

Nero gave a shrug. "Eh, it's nothing important." He knew he couldn't lie to Aurea, but that doesn't mean that he can't hide things from her.

"You're hiding something, Nero." Aurea stated coolly. "Yang wouldn't just dragged you somewhere if it wasn't for something important."

"Well, it's not your business, Aurea." The skunk-haired teen retorted. "Now, come on. We need to get the search done already." Nero walked away, leaving a suspicious Aurea behind. It was obvious that Nero was hiding something from her and she will find out what it is but right now, the search was more important.

* * *

(Location: Library)

"So, what are we looking for here?" Aurea inquired as she stared on the screen, eager to start the search. **(A/N: The one that Blake was researching on during Chapter 5 of Volume 2. Honestly, I don't what to call the damn thing since it's not a PC like irl, or a laptop, and since it's like a goddamn hologram, I might as well call it that.)**

"Well, any information we can get on this Octavius Hamar fellow." Nero replied. "I figured that it should lead us to what Rouge's been hiding from us."

Aurea immediately grimaced. "I still don't like all this. Rouge insisted on hiding his past from us. I really don't think we should breach his privacy. Especially not like this." She admitted as she typed out the name and activated the search engine.

"I know the feeling, but this is for his own good, you know. We can't afford to let him get expelled just because of this incident." Nero reasoned.

"Is this really what's good for him, I wonder?" Aurea retorted. Nero didn't have a reply for that. Just as she was about to continue, a 'blink' appeared on the screen, making Aurea's eye lit up. "Oh, I think we found it."

"Already? That was fast." Nero asked incredulously.

"Well, it wasn't that hard, you know. It's just you who's being a luddite here." The blonde joked, getting Nero to stuck his tongue out in response. "Anyway let's see. What do we have here?" The screen showed a picture of a man, who looked like an older version of Rouge, but with short and spiky hair. "Wow, he looks a lot like Rouge. Could it be..."

Nero also had the same line of thought with her. "Maybe. Professor Ozpin did say that Chevalier wasn't his surname. What does it say about him?"

"Well, from what it says here, he became a huntsman four years ago after graduating from Shade Academy. He doesn't really stand out much. He's just a typical huntsman, I guess." So far the information was nothing important at all or even related to Rouge. Until one particular detail intrigued her. "Oh, he's not here anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"It means he was KIA. It says here he died on a mission outside the kingdom seven months ago." She clarified.

"Oookay, how about his family members?"

"Well, his parents are still alive, if that's what you mean. And he's got a younger brother named..." When she looked for the name, it wasn't there. "That's weird. It wouldn't show up."

"What?"

"His brother's name. It's not showing up." Aurea said confused.

"Why would they not include the name of his brother?" Nero asked.

"It could be because they don't want anyone to know about him." Aurea proposed. "And with his appearance being almost the same as Rouge, you think that-"

"Rouge is Octavius' younger brother. But that begs the question. Why did Rouge leave Vacuo and change his identity? It just doesn't make any sense." Nero was getting frustrated by the lack of progress in their investigation.

"Well, with them hiding the identity of his brother, we can't go any further. The government of Vacuo must've covered this whole thing up." The blonde grimaced.

Aurea's word made Nero realise something. 'The government covered this up. So, if they removed everything about Rouge's true identity from the public, who's to say that Octavius' death wasn't a lie as well.' He thought. 'This ties in with what Yang said about Rouge just now. But again, it doesn't make any sense. Why would Rouge kill his own brother?' Nero shuddered at the thought of Rouge, a guy he knew to be carefree and always cheerful, killing his own sibling in cold blood. 'I need to find out the truth behind all of this.'

"Nero." Aurea called out, snapping the heir out of his inner thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? You were spacing out just now." She said.

"Oh, it's nothing." He reassured her, although he could tell that she wasn't buying it. "Anyway, how 'bout we call home now?"

Aurea raised an eyebrow at his request. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

"Aurea, just trust me on this. We're not getting anywhere with our resources now, so we might as well use our family to help." Nero tried to justify his intentions, which was quite true as far as Aurea was concerned.

"Fine, sure." Aurea then pressed several buttons to contact the Carbone residence in Atlas. A few seconds later, a middle-aged man with a suit appeared.

"Good afternoon, how may I help- Oh, Miss Aurea. A pleasure meeting you!" The man greeted.

"Nice to see you too, Flavio." Aurea said with a smile. "How's everything back home? Is Noir behaving?"

"Things have been quite well around here, Miss Aurea. And yes, Lady Noir is doing well and is certainly behaving." Flavio answered. "If I may ask, Miss Aurea. Is there any reason for you to contact us?"

"Well, we got a favor to ask you here. Nero will explain everything." Aurea replied.

"Young Master is here as well?" Flavio asked with surprise. Aurea then switched places with Nero, giving him the chance to speak.

"Yes, Flavio. I'm here. And before you start anything, I'm fine here. Great actually." Nero said, answering the butler's question before he even asked. "But I'm not here for small talks. We need you to look for a record of some sorts."

"Of course, young Master. What is it?"

Nero looked around for a while, making sure no one is eavesdropping, before continuing in a lower tone. "I need you to find records on any big incidents in Vacuo around seven months ago involving a Huntsman named Octavius Hamar. I want every detail on it as soon as possible."

"Incident? But I thought he died in a mission, Nero?" Aurea quirked an eyebrow, confused.

"It's just a hunch of mine but if we're right, it might just be the breakthrough we need." Nero answered.

"Well, you're the one with the plan, I suppose." The blonde relented.

Flavio was also perplexed by his master's request. "Quite the task you've given me. Finding informations in Vacuo is not as easy as you think, young Master."

"But I trust that you can do it, Flavio?" Nero asked.

The man nodded his head confidently. "Of course. I will send you the information as soon as possible."

"Very well. I think that will be all for now." Nero said.

"Are you sure you don't want me to call Lady Noir? I'm sure she'd love to speak with you now." The man offered.

Nero simply declined. "Maybe next time, Flavio. Just send our regards to everyone at home. It's only a few weeks before we return back to Atlas anyway."

"As you wish, young Master." Flavio conceded before ending the call.

The two sighed in relief, their job now done. All that was left is to wait for the results and to help Rouge in anyway they can, although the redhead might not be so willing to accept the gesture.

"So, anything else?" Aurea asked.

"Well, how 'bout we go grab some lunch? I haven't eat anything since breakfast." Nero suggested.

"Sure, but either you're cooking or you're paying." Aurea joked. Nero simply rolled his eyes but nodded.

* * *

(Location: Dorm Room)

It has already been five days after the incident in Emerald Forest. Rouge was already released from the infirmary, but was banned from any form of strenuous activities, which meant that he will be missing all team exercises for the next few days until further orders from Professor Peach. Everyone have been trying to support the jokester in anyway they can, some moreso than others, but all of them was met with the same result. Failure. Why? Well...

"God fucking dammit, Aurea! I'm not a baby, you know!" Screamed one frustrated Rouge Chevalier. "I don't need you to accompany me where ever I go."

"But-"

"Seriously. I don't need your help. I'm fine doing this on my own." Rouge emphasised.

"But what if you get hurt?" Aurea tried to reason with him.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "I can deal with that myself, thank you very much. And I'm just going out to take a walk. Geez, I'm not a damsel-in-distress, you know." He turned brusquely before exiting the room before, leaving his frustrated team members behind.

"This is getting a little bit out of hand." Azur noted in annoyance while rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I agree with you there." Aurea nodded in agreement. "He's too stubborn to accept any help. He thinks he doesn't need our help at all. What're we supposed to do now, Nero?" She called out to her brother figure, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Nero!"

"Sorry, what did you say?" He blurted out.

Aurea frowned at him. "Honestly, Nero. What's with you? You've been spacing out ever since you received the e-mail from Flavio. Which you haven't told us, as a matter of fact."

"Sorry, a lot of things going in my head." He apologised.

Azur snorted at his words. "You're not the only one."

Nero then stood up and walked out of the room before he got called by Aurea.

"Nero! Where're you going?" She asked.

"I have to find Rouge. There's something I want to talk about." The heir explained hastily before leaving the room. Aurea and Azur stared at each other, and decided to follow their leader.

* * *

(Location: Rooftop)

Meanwhile, Rouge was sitting at the rooftop, contemplating his own life right now.

'Goddamit. Why are they so insistent in helping me?' He thought. 'I told them I'm fine on my own, but no, every single damn time, they had to treat me like I'm a fucking baby. This is exactly why I don't want to tell them about my condition. They've been treating me differently ever since that incident. Even Yang.'

"There you are." A voice called out. He turned to see Nero, with a serious expression. He immediately scowled. "I've been looking for you."

"Nero, I told you a thousand times already. I'm fine, you don't have to coddle me like a kid. Seriously." The redhead grumbled.

"I'm not here for that. I just want to talk." Nero said.

Rouge wasn't really convinced but sighed in relent. "Fine. What do you want?"

Nero was silent for a while, taking his time to bring out his point. "I'm just going straight to the point, Rouge. Why did you hide your identity as Sethra Hamar?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: ANNNNNDDDD DONE! Finally, goddamn finished this shit. Believe it or not, this chapter had originally reached 13k+, but seeing as that is obviously WAY out of limit for my writing quota (usually 7k or so), I decided to cut in in half, and make the rest as Chapter 11. So yeah, Chapter 11 won't be that far off in the future hopefully.**

 **Now, as for my future updates, seeing as I have two fanfics in progress, my schedule would be to finish updating one story before going to the other one. So, starting after Chapter 11 or after this chapter, I'll probably start doing Chapter 2 of Oath of Khurain, and so on. Note that this won't be definite or anything. I'm still human, and I am capable of breaking my schedule from time to time, but that will be the general updating schedule here. And please, don't ask me to write another one. I already have tons of idea in my head. It's just a matter of 'Can I write this regularly without interrupting my other stories?' and stuff. I generally don't like leaving my works hanging, so I try my best to do it as fast as possible.**

 **Bah, I'm rambling, aren't I? Apologies bout that. Anyway, again sorry for the late update and please, give me any comments for this chapter in the review. If you like my story please do fav and follow it. That would be greatly appreciated. Anyway, I'm done.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


	11. Ch 11 A Rouge's Dilemma: Aftermath

**Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! King of Blacks here, back with another chapter for Our Purpose. I know, quite fast. I was surprised as well. But I did promise you guys an early update. So let's not keep you guys waiting, and here goes Chapter 11 of Our Purpose.**

* * *

Our Purpose

Chapter 11: A Rouge's Dilemma: Aftermath

(Location: Rooftop)

"Are you sure he's here?" Aurea questioned. Azur and her went to follow Nero, following on a hunch that something bad might happen with him.

"Yes, Aurea. Nero's at the rooftop along with Rouge. I can smell their scents." Azur replied.

The blonde looked at him weirdly. "That's...kinda disturbing. Does that mean that you knew my scent as well?"

"I've memorised your scent as well as all of our friends, but that's not important now." He replied before getting back to their main focus. Just as they were about to enter, they heard Nero's voice.

"I'm just going straight to the point, Rouge. Why did you hide your identity as Sethra Hamar?"

The two stopped in their tracks, surprised by what they heard.

"...What?"

Rouge stiffened when Nero mentioned the name. Just then, his body started to boil in anger.

"You snooped around, didn't you?" He whispered angrily.

"...yes, I did." Nero answered. "Rouge, I read about what happened, and I'm telling you it wasn't you fau-"

Rouge stood up and faced the heir, his face full of rage. "I told you not to mess around my problem! Is it too hard to understand?"

"Look, Rouge. I just want to help-"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" The redhead roared, outrage at his leader's action. "I can deal with it myself. I don't need you messing around my problem, Nero!"

"You're being stupid, Rouge. We're your friends. You can't just shut us out like this!" Nero argued.

"Well, I can and I will! You don't make my choice for me!"

"We're not making your choice. We just want to help you. That's all."

"And I told you not to! This is my problem and none of you can help me with it!"

"But, Rouge! You can't do this alone, trust me. You'll brea-" His speech was interrupted when Rouge delivered a punch to his face, sending him lying on the ground.

"Fuck you, Nero! You can't help me with anything," Rouge snapped at the heir," 'cause you'll never understand how it feels to be hated by everyone around you." And Rouge walked away from the rooftop, leaving Nero behind. As he opened the door, he stumbled upon Aurea and Azur, seemingly eavesdropping.

"Rouge! I-" Aurea said before she got cut off by the angry teen.

"Don't come looking for me, got it?" He threatened Aurea who can only nod dumbly. Azur simply stared at him with a frown. "What?"

"You're making the wrong choice, Rouge." Azur said.

"How do you even know?" The redhead asked as he walked away from his team.

"Because I've made the same mistake once." Azur's reply made Rouge hesitate for a moment, but in the end he still left the two. Once he was gone, Aurea rushed for Nero who was sitting on the floor, rubbing his cheek in pain.

"Nero! Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Aurea. Just surprised, that's all." He replied. Once he stood up, he gave a sigh. "Guess I fucked this one up.

"Nero, what did you find out about Rouge?" Azur inquired curiously. "I never thought it would incite such a reaction from him."

Aurea also had the same question. "Yeah, Nero. Rouge was never like that. What did you find out?"

"...*sigh* I guess I can't hide this from you guys anymore." Nero digressed. He knew that eventually, he would have to tell his team about it. "You might want to sit down for this..."

* * *

(Location: Dorm Room)

Rouge rushed back to his room, currently experiencing another pain attack. He closed the door and immediately went to his belongings looking for his 'medicine'.

"Fuck, where is it? Where is it?" He would've cursed himself for letting his emotions overwhelm him, but he was just too angry to care at that time. After a while, he took out a bottle of his medication and a syringe. He then extracted some of the liquid from the bottle and injected it to his vein. Just then, he felt a calming sensation running through his body as the pain began to subside. **(I'm gonna give you three guesses on what that thing is. And don't worry, the answer can be found in the later parts of this chapter)**

Just as he was about to relax, the door opened up, revealing Yang who looked worried. Panicking and not wanting her to see his 'medicine', he hid the syringe behind his back, but forgot his bottle.

"Rouge. There you are!" Yang said.

"Yang. Hehehe. What're you doing here?" The redhead asked nervously.

"I'm looking for you, silly." The blonde teased him, but quickly changed the subject. "I just want to check up on you. But I'm sure you're fine, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine Yang. Don't worry. "He replied hastily, panic seeping through his tone. Yang became suspicious at the redhead who looked jittery and nervous. Then she saw him hiding something at his back.

"Rouge, what're you hiding?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing, Yang. Just a lil' bit sore here, but it's nothing. Rouge tried to lie, but Yang wasn't buying any of that.

"Rouge, don't even try. I know you're hiding something." Yang warned him. She started looking around the room, making Rouge even more frantic.

"Seriously, Yang. There's nothing here. You don't have to-"

"Then show me what you're hiding at your back right now!" She snapped at him, before forcefully pulling his arm, showing him holding a syringe. "What's this for?"

"It's for the meds Professor Peach gave me-"

"Bullshit! Professor Peach never gave any medications for you, Rouge. Now tell me, what's this for?!" Yang wasn't accepting any of his lies. Just then, her eyes flickered at something lying on the bed. A small bottle to be exact. Rouge saw this as well and cursed himself for not being more careful. He tried grabbing the bottle but Yang was faster. Once she took the bottle, she read the description and was absolutely shocked by what she saw.

"Look, Yang. I can explain all of this. Just-" He was then slapped on the face by Yang who gave him a cold glare.

"What the fuck is this, Rouge? Why do you have this?!"

"I, uh, I was just-" Rouge tried to explain but Yang kept cutting him off.

"Just what?!" She spat acidly, not accepting any excuse. "All this time, you've been taking this behind our backs? What were you thinking, Rouge?! What reason do you have to use something-" The blonde could not continue her speech, as she was slapped by a furious Rouge.

"Shut up!" He yelled.

Yang looked shocked at his sudden change of attitude. "Rouge?"

"You don't understand anything, Yang. None of you do!" The redhead snapped at her. "This is the only way I can relieve my pain. Nothing else will help."

Yang who was shocked at first, immediately spoke back. "You have us, Rouge! We could help you!"

"No, you can't!" Rouge fired back. "You don't understand what I've experienced, Yang. None of you know the pain I'm feeling right now!"

"Then share it with us. We can't understand if we don't know!" Yang pleaded, her anger now replaced with extreme concern for her dear friend.

"I KILLED MY OWN BROTHER! HOW DO YOU THINK I FELT, HUH?!" Yang gaped in shock after Rouge's outburst, unable to give out any rebuttal. The redhead, on the other hand, grabbed the drug bottle and took off from the room, his patience finally reaching its limit. Right after that, the three remaining member of NARA entered the room, looking frantic.

"Yang! What happened?!" Aurea tried prodding for answers from Yang.

"I-I, he, we-" Yang stuttered out, too shocked to give a response.

Nero eventually realised what was happening. "He told you, didn't he?"

The younger blonde turned her head towards Nero. "Y-you knew?"

"I found out about it by accident." The heir admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Yang looked angry that he hid something like this from her.

"The same reason you didn't tell the others about what you heard at the infirmary. We won't know what the other's reaction would be." Nero tried to justify his actions.

"I have a right to know!" Yang was definitely not happy about this.

"No, you don't!" Nero retorted acidly. "None of us do! I found out about in by accident and I still regret it. I did what I had to do, but I still feel guilty for intruding on his privacy."

It was at this point that Azur intervened. "This is nice and all, but I think you guys should know that Rouge's already gone and we have no idea where he is."

"He should be going to Vale at this point." Aurea suggested. "We should split up and try to search for him."

"I'll get Ruby to help us." Yang offered.

Nero wasn't convinced about it. "Are you sure about this?"

The brawler kept her serious look. "They'll understand, trust me. And we need as much people as we can to look for him."

"Well, if you say so." Nero relented.

And so, all of them took off to Vale in search of their lost friend. Yang at that time had one thought, and only one thought.

'I hope you don't do anything stupid out there, Rouge. Everyone here needs you...I need you.'

* * *

Rouge was currently outside of Beacon, at a parking lot. Usually, some students, who have their own transportation, parked their vehicles here for every time they had the chance to go to Vale during the weekend. The redhead approached a motorbike with chrome red and orange design, making it resemble a flame lighting up the dark night skies. He rode the bike, started the engine and was about to take off when a mischievous voice startled him.

"Hey, Rouge. Whatchu doing here?" The redhead turned around to see Sun with his goofy grin. Immediately blinded by anger, he rushed off to the monkey Faunus and punched him in the face, sending Sun to the ground. "Hey, what's that for-"

"You told them, didn't you?" Rouge asked menacingly.

The blond immediately realised what was happening and put up a serious expression. "They found out, didn't they?"

"Yeah, with your help you traitor." Rouge spat at him. "I told you not to tell them!"

"And I told you to tell them. They have a right to know!" Sun shot back with the same tone. "And I never told them about it. I just told them about Octav."

"That's the same as telling them, you jackass! Goddamit Sun, you promised me not to tell them!" Rouge was seriously pissed at the monkey Faunus right now.

"I promised you not to tell anyone what happened that day, and I did. It's not my fault you're being too much of a coward and hide this from them." Sun retorted stubbornly.

"They don't need to know what happened. It'll just makes things worse!"

"Oh yeah? From the looks of it, you aren't doing too hot right now."

"Oh yeah? Well, screw you then, Sun. I knew I shouldn't have brought you with me when I ran away from Vacuo."

"Well, you never did bring me. I came by myself. It was **your** decision to split up with me at Vale."

"I told you. I don't want to see anything or anyone from Vacuo anymore. It'll just bring up bad memories."

Sun snorted at the statement. "Funny, seeing as you join Beacon right during the Vytal Festival seasons. You're grasping at straws, Seth."

Rouge stared at his old friend dangerously. "I told you not to call me that, Sun."

"They already know about it, right? So I don't see any problem with calling you that, _Seth_." The monkey drawled sarcastically, emphasising on Rouge's real name out of spite.

"I have no time to play with your games, Wukong." Rouge went towards his bike, intent on getting away from the blond.

"You're making a huge mistake, Seth!" He warned. "The only way to get out of this is with your friends, and you're pushing them out!"

"You're not my mom, Sun. You don't get to call the shots for me."

"No, but you also don't get to call the shots for us." The prankster retorted. "It's our decision to help you and not even you can stop us."

Rouge stayed still for a moment, affected by Sun's words for a moment. But he quickly shook it off and rode away from the scene, leaving Sun who shook his head miserably.

"Idiot."

* * *

(Location: Industrial District, Vale)

Rouge was cruising on his motorbike, his face etched with a seemingly perpetual frown. He was still furious at the others. Nero for intruding on his privacy, Sun for breaking his promise (there's no way Nero could've found out about everything without Sun's help, he thought) and everyone for treating him like a child.

'Grrr, what right do they have to do all of that, huh?' He thought bitterly. He weaved through the vehicles on the street before making a turn to a seemingly empty alley. He stopped his bike in front of a building, and walked through the entrance.

Once he entered, he was greeted by loud music booming in and a big crowd, either dancing or enjoying a glass of alcoholic beverages. Some of the men wore similar uniform, a black suit and red tie, with matching red glasses. All of them were holding some form of weaponry; either guns, a short sword and even hatchets.

He walked past through the crowds before sitting himself at the bar, sitting next to a familiar face.

"What're you doing here, kid?" He questioned. The man was very tall, reaching about two metres, and his stature was quite bulky. He has almost the same outfit as the other men, except that he wears a black vest with white long-sleeved shirt underneath it.

"Do I have to have a reason to be here, Junior?" Rouge bit back harshly.

"What's gotten into you? You looked like you only have a few days to live."

"Oh piss off. I'm not in the mood right now." The redhead growled, not in the mood for smartass remarks. "Just gimme something strong."

"You know I don't give out drinks for minors, right?" Junior said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yet you gave me a job around here as a bartender."

The man simply shrugged. "You needed money, and I needed another worker. I see no problem there." Junior observed the redhead further. The teen looked distraught, angry and tired at the same time. "So, what brought you here, kid? It ain't your shift today, remember?"

"Just some rough days at school. Need to cool down a bit." Rouge explained.

The man snorted. "Must be fucking rough if you're getting yourself some morphine." Rouge looked surprised that Junior knew about that. "You think I'm blind, kid? I'm a professional. It'll take more than some huntsman-in-training to fool me."

"Oh yeah. What're you gonna do about it, then?" Rouge asked sarcastically.

The smart remark didn't faze Junior one bit. He's dealt with teenagers a lot of time, so he's quite used to their attitudes. "Nothing. I'm not your parents, so I have no right to lecture you and stuff."

"Good, 'cause I don't expect you to-"

"But let me ask you this question. What would your friends think if they found out?"

"..."

"I'll tell you what they'd think. They'd be mad 'cause you didn't get them for help. Huntsmen are always like that. Being all honorable and stuff."

"I thought you hate the huntsmen." Rouge retorted.

"I hate it if they mess with my business. There's a difference." The crime informant snorted. "They have their job. I have mine. As long as I can get money outta them, I don't see any problem with those folks."

Rouge rolled his eyes but kept a smile on his face. His boss may be a hardass most of the times, but he's really a softy on the inside. His smile was quickly replaced with a frown though, remembering what happened earlier. "...Do you think it's right if they tried doing something I told them not to, even if their intentions is to help me?"

Junior rolled his eyes. "It's what people do everyday, kid. They break the laws, exploit every loophole, and screw with the authorities, saying that it's to help someone. It's stupid, I tell ya." Rouge seemed to frown even more, but Junior's next statement threw him off. "But it doesn't mean they're fucking wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, human are naturally stubborn. That's a given, and you can't change that no matter how hard you try, trust me. When your friend wants to help, they won't stop just because you said no. So all you have to do is trust those friend of yours and hope that it doesn't bite you back in the ass."

"But what if they get hurt in the process? What if I don't want them to help me for their own good?"

"Well, you don't know, that's for sure." His advice only made Rouge all the more confused. "But that's not for you to decide. Everyone makes their own decision, not others around them. You think you have the right to call the shots for your friend?" Junior stared at the redhead who looked away, not wanting to look him in the eyes. "Point is, stop being an ass and get out of here. I'm pretty sure your friend is looking around for you."

"...Even after I lashed out on them?" Rouge muttered lowly.

"Teenagers are complicated, but I think you should know that seeing as you're one yourself." The man quipped. Rouge didn't react to the statement, too deep in thought. Seeing as the teen was too distracted, Junior returned back to his routine; shouting at his men for their incompetence. "Hey, what're you dumb fucks doing standing around?! Go do something useful or I'll cut your pay off!"

A few minutes later, Rouge realised that his boss wasn't entertaining him anymore, so he took that as his cue to leave, trying as hard as he can to digest as much of the old bear's advice as possible.

* * *

(Location: Vale Port)

An hour and a half has passed since Rouge left the dorms, and they still haven't found him. Yang thought to search for him at Junior's nightclub, seeing as that was the place they first met, but by the time she was there, the crime informant had told that he already left. And now here she was, at the docks, crying out in hopes of finding him.

"Rouge! Where are you?" She screamed. "Rouge!" The docks remained silent save for a small echoes from her voice. Yang sighed in depression before setting herself down at the edge, close the the sea. Nero told her the truth about Rouge's past and she couldn't but feel guilty about it. Out of all of them, she was the one who was closest to he redhead, yet in the nine months she knew him, she never even realised the pain that he has been holding inside, and that made him feel guilty.

"What kind of friend am I? Not even noticing my own friend hurting on the inside? She muttered in self-loathing, something rarely seen in the cheerful brawler. "I guess I really am just a dumb blonde."

"Not really. That was just me, I guess." A familiar voice answered. Startled by the voice, Yang turned around and her eyes immediately widened.

"Rouge!" She cried, before looking at her friend, who looked paler than before. "Where've you been?!"

"...I've been around for awhile, I guess." He replied before sitting himself down next to Yang. "All of you guys been looking for me?"

"Of course we are! What're you talking about?"

"I see." The two went silent, and the atmosphere became awkward. After a while, Rouge spoke up. "Yang..."

"Hmm?" She stared at him curiously.

"...Did Nero tell you everything already?" He asked cautiously.

The blonde realised what he was talking about, and replied, "Yeah, he told me what he knew..." Rouge looked sullen, possibly scared. "...but I still want to know everything from you."

"What?" He asked, surprised by her request.

"Nero may have found out something, but it may not be the whole truth. That's why...I want you to tell me everything that you've experienced before coming to Vale." Yang stared at him seriously, indicating that she wasn't joking.

Rouge returned the look for a while, before giving a defeated sigh. "I'm not telling you any of this before, because...honestly, I was afraid of what you would think of me. That you guys would think less of me."

"Rouge, I'm pretty sure they won't mind. If you told them the real truth, they'll understand." Yang comforted him. "So let us in, and share your pain with us."

Rouge remained conflicted even after Yang's words settled in. All the advices he got today came full circle in his mind, but his fear of being an outcast once more still remains. But eventually, he made his decision.

"I...I'll tell you the truth." He finally brought the courage to spoke up, bringing a genuine smile on Yang's face. "Just be prepared for what's ahead, okay?"

"Sure, Rouge. I'll brace myself." Yang assured him. Rouge took a deep breath and began his story.

"Well, I guess I should start with my life before the incident happened." He began. "Well, I was quite the prodigy there, believe it or not. I'm sure you've seen my Weapon Mechanics test scores. In Vacuo, I was known mostly for my inventions, but I was also praised for my skills in combat, and I was top of my class there. They even gave me a nickname - Seth the Tinkerer. People respected me, I have friends all around me, and my family was proud of me, especially my brother."

His face turned solemn remembering his brother. "His name was Octavius. He was a huntsman, not really famous and all, but he liked his job, and I always looked up to him. He always did what was right, even if it meant receiving hate from the others. I guess you could say that he was an upholder of justice." Rouge chuckled, remembering some of his fond memories with his brother. "But yeah, life was pretty much great that time...but it wasn't meant to last."

"What happened?" Yang asked, although she knew the major details of it already.

Rouge was quiet for a while, before he continued. "I was about to showcase my newest invention to the public. It was some sort of generator, I don't really remember for what." For some reason, the details of the machine was forgotten in his head, possibly due to the trauma he experienced. "But, the point is, there was a lot of people watching me. Probably close to a few hundreds."

Yang gaped in awe at the number of audience. "Wow, you really were famous."

The redhead snorted. "You think I would lie? Anyway, my brother was there as well. My parents couldn't come that day. Was busy one way or another, and in a way, they were lucky 'cause they didn't have to experience what I experienced. We were inside of the city hall, and I was about to start my demonstration. But just when I started the generator..."

Yang realised that Rouge was tearing up and immediately hugged him in an effort to comfort the distraught teen. "Calm down, Rouge. You can stop if you want to. I'm not forcing you to."

"No. I came this far. I can't back out now." Rouge laughed weakly and wiped his tears off before resuming his story. "Well, when I started the generator, everything went white and when I woke up, I was already at the hospital and it was already weeks after the incident." His voice started cracking up. "The doctor came and told me what happened. Apparently, I made a miscalibration with the machine, and it became overloaded and blew up on the spot. You wouldn't believe the damage I caused Yang. The building was practically a pile of rubbles after that."

"Rouge..." Yang stared at him sadly. She really couldn't bear seeing her friends like this.

"Then the worst news arrived. You know how I told you that probably a few hundred attended that event?" The blonde nodded. "Well, the explosion probably wiped off almost half of that in one go."

Yang was immediately slackjawed after that. More than hundred people died in Rouge's hand? She definitely underestimated the burden he's carrying.

"And one of the casualties...was my brother." Rouge finally broke down, unable to hold his emotions together. Yang embraced him in an effort to calm him down. "I killed him, Yang *sob*. My brother and *sob* all those people. *sob* Gone because of my stupidity."

"No, Rouge. What happened was an accident. You couldn't have known about it." And that was the truth in Yang's opinion. From the way she saw it, the explosion was nothing more than a slight of human error turned into a catastrophical disaster, but the blame shouldn't lie on Rouge who was a victim as well.

"You don't understand, Yang." Rouge was still sobbing but it had already lessened. "I should've died in the explosion as well. I was the closest to the blast. Yet, I lived. All to hold this burden of killing hundreds of innocents. It wasn't a miracle to me. More like a sick joke."

The redhead immediately laughed maniacally. "And you know what's worse? After all that happened, I expected to see people comforting me and everything. But no, all I got was angry glares and people crying for my head."

"What?!" Yang cried out in surprise and rage. Nero never told him about this.

"I guess Nero didn't know about this as well." Rouge surmised from her reaction, to which she nodded. "Yeah, all those people who just weeks ago praised me wherever I go, now scorned me with extreme prejudice. If they're not sheeps, I don't know what is."

The redhead was currently experiencing a myriad of emotions; rage, sadness, guilt and many more. "Not only them. Even my parents looked at me like I was a monster. I guess I am, killing all those people without a second thought." Yang tried to prove that he was wrong, but he simply continued. "Before long, I went from Vacuo's rising star to their number one eyesore. But the worst came from the council."

"What did they do?" Yang asked in a small voice.

"Not many people outside Vacuo knows about this, but we don't have any police in Vacuo." The blonde looked surprised by this information. "So, the only law enforcements we had came from Shade Academy. So in a sense, the school is the government there. Now, I know you all said that it was an accident and most certainly not my fault, but that time, no one cared. My mistakes costs me hundreds of innocent lives. And eventually, people started asking for my head. The council eventually complied and called for my arrest, though I guess the council was just looking for an excuse to kill me sooner or later."

"They actually wanted you dead?" Yang asked, horrified.

"Like you wouldn't believe. My head was actually worth a hundred thousand lien after I ran away." He chuckled to ease the tension, which wasn't really working so he simply moved on. "So yeah. After that, I knew I couldn't stay at Vacuo anymore. Right at the middle of the night, I brought some essentials, got my hands on some fake transcripts and ran away from home."

"Along the way, Sun found me and we travelled together for awhile. He was my best friend when I was at Shade, and being him, he snuck on board to follow me." Yang actually gave a small laugh, actually believing that monkey to do something like that. "But we separated right after we reached Vale. I couldn't bear to have any memories of my past lingering around so I told him to leave. He actually decided to go to Mistral, saying that he wanted to see more of Remnant. I don't really blame him."

Rouge became silent for a moment before releasing a long sigh. "So yeah, that's my story. What do you think?"

Yang just stared at him, her eyes holding back tears and simply hugged him. "I...I never knew you were holding all of that inside."

Rouge simply returned the hug, also tearing up. "Hey, it's fine. You couldn't have known."

"No, I should've seen it coming a long time ago. But I guess I was just too caught up with myself to even notice your pain." Yang thought depressed.

"Yang, really. It's fine. I guess it was also my fault." The redhead admitted. "I should've just come clean much earlier. And you know what?" He stared at the blonde fondly. "I think you were right. I'm feeling a lot better now. It doesn't hurt as much as before all of this. So...thanks."

Yang gave him the same look and replied, "No problem."

At that moment, Rouge and Yang felt like nothing else ever mattered, that they were the only thing in the universe. The two stared at each other, before trying to close the gaps. Just as they were millimetres from each other-

"Urgh!" Rouge immediately curled down with intense pain. Yang immediately started panicking.

"Rouge, what's wrong?!" She cried out. Unfortunately the pain he experienced was too great for him to even give a response. It seems that this attack is far worse than anything he ever experienced before. Yang not knowing what to do, called up the others. "Nero! Nero!"

An instant later, the skunkhead responded. "Yang! What is it? You found him?"

"Yeah, I did, but I think he got another attack! What should I do? He's not stopping anytime." Yang asked desperately.

From the other side, she could hear Nero cursing. "Okay, call up the ambulance. I'll tell the others right now. Where are you anyway?"

"We're at the docks. I'll see you later!" She disconnected the call before dialing for the hospital. "Hello?...Yes, I have an emergency here! My friend here, he's having a bad seizure right now. Please get here quick!...We're at the docks right now. Near Warehouse 3...Yes, please come here ASAP, please." When the call was over, she turned back to Rouge who was still lying on the ground, writhing in pain. She went up and grabbed his hands, her face tearing up. "C'mon Rouge. You'll be fine. Please be fine." She pleaded.

Rouge was gritting his teeth harshly, trying to suppress the pain to no avail. "Yang...I, urgh...don't...urgh wanna...die...urgh...like...this urgh." He groaned.

"No, Rouge. You'll be fine. You're not gonna die." Yang said frantically, not wanting to imagine the worst case scenario. "You can't die. Please don't die."

Few minutes passed and the ambulance finally arrived. The medics immediately came out with a stretcher and placed Rouge down. When Yang tried to enter the ambulance, she was stopped by one of the staffs.

"Miss, I'm afraid you can't join us on the trip." He said.

"Please, I'm his friend. You have to bring me with you." The blonde begged. The man hesitated for a while before eventually agreeing to her request.

"Alright miss, but I must ask you not to interfere with our procedures." The medic warned. Yang only nodded, her attention solely at her bed-ridden friend. All of them entered the ambulance and immediately took off, with them running against the clock with Rouge's condition getting worse by the minute.

* * *

(Location: Vale General Hospital)

As soon as everyone arrived, they immediately approached the counter.

"Excuse me! Where is the room for the patient named Rouge Chevalier?" Nero panted between breaths, tired from running all the way to the hospital.

"Hold on. Let me check for a minute." The nurse responded as she searched through the database. "Hmmm, it seems that Mr. Chevalier is at room 1031 at the emergency ward. And I don't think they're accepting any visitors right now." She turned back to Nero, but he had already left the counter.

He dashed through the corridors, with the Azur, Aurea and the rest of Team RWBY on his tail. When he arrived there, he was immediately halted by the staffs guarding the door.

"Sorry, but we can't let you pass through." The man warned.

"But sir, my friend is inside. I have to see him!" Nero tried to persuade but unfortunately, they weren't convinced.

"Sorry, kid. But the patient is already under critical condition. We can't afford to risk any more stress from outsiders. The girl was already dangerous enough. Another person could interfere with the medical procedures and could endanger the patient's condition." He explained. Nero then tried to force his way before Azur tried to hold him off.

"Let go of me, Azur! I need to get in." Nero insisted, struggling against the Faunus' strong armlock.

"Don't get so hasty, Nero." Azur warned. "If we get in right now, it might make things worse. It'd be best if we just stay here."

"But Rouge-"

"Is being treated and cannot be disturbed by anyone at all. Would you jeopardize his chance of living, Nero?" The wolf reminded with a grim tone.

Nero was still hesitant on staying outside, but eventually he relented. "I'm just worried about him." He rested his head on his palms while Aurea went next to him and rubbed his back comfortingly.

"You're not the only one worried, Nero. All of us are, but it won't do us any good if we rush like an idiot." Aurea soothed calmingly.

"I'm just tired of all this stupid things happening to us." He lamented. Ruby, who was there along with Weiss and Blake, also tried to comfort him.

The atmosphere was tense. Everyone was in a state of worry, even the normally cold-hearted Weiss (she claims to not care about the prankster, but she really does). They were afraid of the worst-case scenario.

"Please be okay, Rouge. Please be okay." Aurea prayed desperately, the only options she had to help her bed-ridden teammate.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Their hearts dropped when they heard a blood-curling scream from inside the room.

(Moments before...)

 **(A/N: Mind you people, I'm not a doctor so I know absolutely nothing about these medical procedures, so any of you doctors out there, try to give comments if I did anything wrong. Thanks)**

"Strap the patient down! We can't proceed if the patient keeps moving!" The doctor barked his orders as the nurses went to restrain Rouge on the bed. After that was done, the doctor immediately asked for the initial diagnosis. "What's the status, nurse?"

"His muscles are all burning up, sir. His blood pressure also rising high with his heartbeat. What should we do, doc?" The nursed asked, apparently never having dealt with this case before.

The man sighed exasperatedly. "Not much. We've never dealt with a case of Semblance Breakdown this severe, but we'll start with relieving down the pain. Grab me some anaesthetics!"

"Yes, sir!" The nurses moved out to do their jobs. Meanwhile, Yang just stood there next to Rouge, her eyes filled with concern.

"Doc, can you help Rouge? Please, you have to save him." She asked.

"I'd like to say I can, miss but the situation here is much more dire than we expected. We cannot predict when he will go into cardiac arrest and stop breathing. Even with our treatment, his chances of living is less than twenty percent at best." The man explained.

Yang had a face of utter shock. Less than twenty percent chance of surviving? Her heart felt more distraught after the revelation. She looked at the redhead who was currently unconscious due to the pain he experienced. She grabbed his hand tightly, tearing up and whispering, "Please be okay, Rouge. All of us needs you back...I need you back."

Unfortunately, life was intent on bringing misfortune on them, because all of a sudden, his body jerked violently for the umpteenth time, before the monitor displaying his heartbeat went flat.

...

"No..."

"Shit, we're losing him. The doctor cursed violently. "Get me the defibrillator!" The nurse quickly went and grabbed the defibrillator, setting it up in an attempt to resuscitate Rouge back to life.

"No, Rouge!" Yang wailed in agony.

"Miss, I'm afraid you'll have to leave." One of the nurses tried to pull the blonde back, but she was simply no match for her strength.

"Rouge, you can't die! Please, don't leave us!" She kept screaming, hoping that it would bring her friend back from his eternal slumber.

"3, 2, 1, CLEAR!" The doctor pressed the defibrillator on Rouge's chest, making his body jerk, but nothing else. "Again!"

"Rouge! Please don't leave me like this!" This time, three nurses were holding her back, although they were still struggling thanks to her immense strength.

"3, 2, 1, CLEAR!" Once more, no reaction. "Again!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Yang was hysterical right now as her hope of Rouge surviving slowly diminished.

"LAST ONE, 3, 2, 1, CLEAR!" The doctor did one final try, which failed again resulting him in shaking his head in remorse. "He's gone now."

Yang finally released herself from the hold and went to the lifeless body of Rouge, holding his hand while releasing tears of grief and mourning.

*BANG*

The door all of a sudden fell down, and in came Azur and Nero who looked pale. The two immediately saw Rouge on the bed and Nero fell to his knees.

"No..."

The doctor came to him with a grim expression. "Sorry, son. We couldn't save him."

Azur approached the man with an angry look. "What do you mean you couldn't save him?!"

"His conditions was far too severe and his chances of pulling through was minimal at best. Even then, had we succeeded, he wouldn't have been cured of his conditions yet, so the treatment would only be temporary." He explained.

"But you could have-" Azur was about to rage on the doctor, but Aurea grabbed his shoulder and shook her head, telling him not to. In frustration he went and punched the wall, leaving a crack and shaking the room. The doctor looked at the teens and decided to leave them to mourn.

The mood inside the room was somber. Even Weiss, the usually coldhearted Ice Queen, shed a few tears for the fallen jokester. Blake was simply comforting Azur who was leaning his head on a wall, holding back his tears. Meanwhile, Aurea wasn't holding back, and was freely crying over her dead partner. Nero was being comforted by Ruby, who gave him a hug while crying herself.

Yang remained on the bedside, holding Rouge's hand, probably with the hopes that by some miracle that he would live again.

"Why, Rouge? Why did you leave us?" She croaked out through her tears.

The redhead remained unresponsive.

* * *

(Location: ?)

Meanwhile, Rouge found himself in vast world filled with completely nothing.

"Ugh, where the hell am I?" He groaned out to no one in particular. "Is this heaven, 'cause I'll be pretty disappointed if it is."

"Well, it depends on how you see it, actually."

Rouge was startled at the voice and immediately turned around, and what he saw made his eyes widened in shock.

The man in front of him looks exactly like him, even his cocky grin, and the only difference was his short spiky red hair and his height, which is only by a few centimeters. He wore a black hakama and brown trousers. His shoulders was covered with a spiky shoulder guards for protection. This man was obviously familiar to Rouge. After all, he's-

"...Octav?" **(A/N: I could just put a cliffhanger here, but nah. That wouldn't be nice XD)**

"You miss me, bro?" The man, identified as Octavius asked. His question was immediately answered when Rouge rushed and embraced him tightly.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course I miss you." He said, tears streaming down his face. Octavius merely returned the hug and the two remained in that position for minutes in silence. After that, the two broke off and Rouge had a question. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

The elder redhead shrugged. "Well, depends on how you see it, actually."

"What do you mean? It's either I'm dead or I'm not right?"

"That would be the case usually..." He said casually before staring at Rouge intently. "But you're kinda special right now."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rouge was really confused with his brother right now.

"It means that you have a choice, Seth..." Octavius explained. "...whether you can stay here as the dead, or return to the living. To your friends."

"..." Rouge was left speechless. But at the same time, there was a feeling of remorse inside him.

Octavius noticed this and asked. "Hey, what's wrong? You're not happy about this?"

"I am happy about this, but...do I even deserve all of this?"

His brother looked at him incredulously. "What're you talking about? Of course you deserved it!"

Rouge scoffed at his brother. "Do I? After everything I did? Killing all those people, you included? I think I'd be the last guy who deserved to get a second chance?" Octavius stared at him for a moment before hitting him on the head. "What was that for?!"

"That's for being an idiot." He chided. "Listen, Seth. No one blames you for the incident."

"Hell yeah they do! Why do you think they even put a bounty for my head, huh?!" Rouge cried out angrily.

"Then those people are idiots and you shouldn't listen to them at all." Octavius said distastefully. He really doesn't want to see his brother burdened by this anymore. "You shouldn't blame yourself, you know. It was just an accident. You couldn't have seen it coming."

"What do you mean it wasn't my fault?! If it wasn't for me, all those people wouldn't have died needlessly, and you would still be alive right now!" Rouge was still feeling the guilt of his actions until now.

"That's true. What happened could have been avoided had you been more careful..." Rouge only drooped his head in depression at the truth of the statement. "...but what good would it do to dwell over it?"

"Huh?"

Octavius approached Rouge and grabbed his shoulder while staring at him with a warm expression, something out of a brother like him. "Seth, I know you felt guilty for the incident, and you're still hurt from my death. But do you really think things will change if you questioned what you could have done in the past?"

Rouge remained silent, as his brother continued his speech. "Instead of getting yourself lost in the past, why don't you think about what your future could be?"

As if on cue, an image appeared out of nowhere, and Rouge watched what was currently happening inside the room with his friends. All of them, crying over his death. He especially took notice of Yang who was at his bedside, looking devastated.

"Guys, Yang..." He breathed out in disbelief.

"You could change this Seth, but only if you stop dwelling over the past." His brother said with a smile.

Rouge was almost convinced, but he still needed something. 'Octav's right. I can't keep myself chained to the past. But what about all the things that I've done?'

Octavius seemed to have read his mind, and said. "Hey, if you're still wound up over what happened that day, just know that..." The elder redhead then gave Rouge a warm hug, and whispered, "...I've already forgiven you."

And that broke the dam inside Rouge Chevalier, formerly known as Sethra Hamar. He started sobbing hysterically, his feelings finally pouring out from the inside. "Thank you, Octav. I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

Octavius was also tearing up a bit. "Hey, I'm the one who should be sorry. I left you too early, and 'cause of that, I couldn't help you through your pain." The two remained in that position as Rouge finally unleashed all of his pent-up emotions to his dead brother.

When he was done, the two broke from their embrace, looked at each other before laughing out loud.

"Yeah, we're so not doing this again." Rouge said between laughs.

"Hey, you're the one who started the hugging!" His brother retorted.

"Oh I'm sorry that I can't hug my brother who's already dead." The younger Hamar snapped back, although not maliciously.

"Okay, serious time now. You made your choice already, Seth?" Octavius inquired.

"Yeah, and I chose to..." Rouge paused for a few moments, possibly for dramatic effect. "...to return back." The elder redhead smiled at his brother's decision.

"And why is that?" He may be happy with the choice, but he still wants Rouge to be sure of his decision.

"Because...I still have things to do in my life that I can't do if I'm dead. I know I can't chain myself to the past now, but that doesn't mean I can't look into the future..." As he said that he looked back towards the image, particularly at a certain fiery blonde and a genuine smile graced his face. "..and 'sides, I still got someone waiting for me at the other side. It would be a dick move to make the lady wait, ya know?"

"Good answer there, bro. And I'm assuming you're staying with Rouge now, eh?"

Rouge merely shrugged. "Eh, I think I'll stay with Rouge for now. It's a name that signifies my change. A whole new me. And it sounds much cooler than Sethra Hamar."

Octavius snorted at his response. "Yeah, yeah. Keep on dreaming, nerd. And Seth..." he nudged a rib on his brother while giving him a wink. "Nice catch you got there."

Rouge merely gave a smirk before turning into a smile and said. "See you another time, bro."

Octavius returned the gesture and gave him a mock salute. "Hopefully not too soon, bro."

Rouge then watched as his body dissipated before he felt a pull leading him out of the limbo.

(Back in the room...)

Team RWBY and Team NARA was still mourning over Rouge, who was lying there lifelessly. Yang was on the bedside sobbing over her dead friend while gripping his hand tightly.

"Rouge..." she whimpered. "Why did you leave us like this? Just when we were so close to.."

Her pleas remained unanswered for a while until...

... ***Beep***.. ***Beep***...

"Huh?" Everyone looked towards the monitor showing the heartbeat, and it was no longer flat and instead showing a slow rhythm of heartbeat, signifying life.

"Rouge?" The blonde whispered out in shock.

.. ***Beep***.. ***Beep***.. ***Beep***.. ***Beep***..

Everyone couldn't believe their eyes. Did Rouge just..?

Fortunately, their questions were answered when Yang felt Rouge hand gripping hers, inciting a squeak from the blonde. Nero, Azur and Aurea rushed to the bedside, and watched as their teammate slowly opened his eyes.

"...Hey guys." Was the first sentence he croaked out.

"ROUGE!" Everyone immediately cheered ecstatically.

"You bloody bastard. You trying to scare us or what?" Azur shook his head in amusement, although tears were still visible from his eyes. Aurea was too happy to even give a response, simply choosing to smile while crying, now with tears of happiness.

Nero's reaction was a little bit more extreme as he took Ruby and spun her around in joy before she planted a kiss on his lips. Suffice to say, the two immediately blushed up a storm and turned away from each other, too embarrassed to even speak. Luckily, the others was too focused in the Rouge to notice the moment.

Yang simply held his hands tighter, not willing to let it go for fear of losing him again.

"You idiot. Stop worrying us like that." She said.

"Sorry 'bout that. I had some business to finish with." He answered weakly.

Yang simply smiled and shook her head. "Just don't go dying again. My heart almost stopped when I saw the monitor went flat, you know."

Rouge chuckled at her words. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"You better." The two simply stared at one another, and just then Yang felt something smooth on her hands. "What the-?"

"Just check it out." Yang did as told, and opened her palms. She was immediately surprised when she saw a small crystal on her palm.

"Rouge, did you-?" She was shocked that Rouge could do something like this.

"That's my Semblance. Crystallokinesis. To create and control any crystals on my surroundings." He explained.

"But I though you can't use your Semblance now?"

This time, Rouge put up a smile. "Well, I guess you could say I'm cured now." He then gestured to the crystal. "You can keep it, Yang. As thanks for being my friend when I was going through a hard time."

Yang was simply too tear-stricken to even give a response, only giving him a nod and a heartfelt smile that he returned.

Just a few minutes after Rouge came back to life, the doctor from before entered the room with a couple of nurses, with wide eyes after hearing the news from Nero.

"My god. This has got to be some kind of miracle." The doctor said in disbelief.

"Well, I think that about sums it up, doc. But are you still going to make a check-up on him?" Nero asked.

"Of course. So I apologise but can all of you please leave the room for a while? I promise this won't take long." The man said.

"Come on, Yang. You've been here the longest. Let's give the doctor some space to work with." Aurea said calmingly.

Yang was about to protest, but a look from Rouge and she immediately relented. Just before she left the room, she left Rouge with one last gift.

"Thanks for coming back for me." She whispered on his ears before pecking him on the cheeks. Rouge was left speechless after her actions, while the doctor chuckled.

"You've got some good friends there, son. They all came barrelling for you as soon as you got admitted you know." The doctor said.

"Yeah, I know. Makes me wonder what I did to deserve them in the first place."

"Nah, you don't have to think too hard on that." He answered making Rouge look at him. "Sometimes life is just like that. With every hardship you experienced, there'll always be someone you can share your pain with. Your families, friends and sometimes even strangers. It makes your life less of a burden, I guess but that's what you should always look forward for. 'Cause who knows, maybe you can find someone who'll stay with you for a lifetime."

Rouge pondered on the man's words, before putting on a smile.

"Well, I guess you're right."

* * *

 **Author's Notes: Annnnnnd done! Wow, this whole arc is finally done! Honestly, I never expected this thing to take three chapters to finish, but oh well. Anyways, Rouge finally fine and all, things will hopefully go smooth in the future...oh who am I kidding. Things won't be fine in the future. This is RWBY after all. The series that made us see Arkos be canon, only to kill Pyrrha at the same episode T.T.**

 **Anyway, with Volume 4 done and all, I hope that I can catch up my fanfic to at least end of Volume 2 (including any original arcs) before Volume 5 kicks in this fall. And I'll probably end this story after Volume 3. Now, before you guys charge in with an angry mob and all, I will be making a sequel for this, continuing on from Volume 4 onwards. I just felt that Volume 3 is a good point to end this story and give more impact to my rendition of Volume 4, that's all. So don't worry people, it'll be there, just now here.**

 **Anyway, that should be the end o my ramble for now. Remember, if you like my story here, please click the follow and favorite button. It won't take long. And please, please, please leave reviews for poor old me. I love you guys and all, but I will love you even more if you guys gave me review XD.**

 **Alright, see y'all in the next chapter.**

 **King of Blacks, signing out.**


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